Holding On
by SerenBex
Summary: The fifth in a series. Who is Evie?
1. A Hat Would Be Nice

_**Disclaimer**__** – OK, so this story includes stuff that happened in 'The Pandorica Opens' and 'The Big Bang'. Again, sadly I have NO claim over Doctor Who, which belongs to the lovely BBC (unless they ruin River/the Doctor's obvious true love when they will NOT be lovely anymore). Speech taken directly from the episodes is in italics :)**_

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><p>"Please don't let me die." Evie had begged him, tears rolling down her cheeks.<p>

The Doctor covered his mouth with one hand, looking at her. He realised in that moment that he had never actually _seen_ the teenager cry before. When she'd first found and read the headline and seen that she was 'dead' she'd been angry; so angry, inexplicably angry. Since then, whenever she got upset she just closed down or avoided the subject.

He had never seen a single tear fall from her eyes. Yes, he'd seen evidence that she had been crying – tearstained cheeks, red eyes, etc., but he'd never actually _seen_ her cry before. And now he realised that that scared him. Especially now that she was crying. Grabbing her tightly by the arms, he forced her to look at him, promising things with his eyes that he couldn't say out loud.

As though she understood what he was trying to tell her, Evie nodded and moved aside so that he could look at the scanner. Taking in the readings carefully, the Doctor saw that the girl was right; the statistics indicated that she was dying. But the logic disagreed. According to the lines on the screen, Evie should be lying in a heap, gasping for air and in the middle of a massive heart attack.

But she was standing, watching him and sobbing violently, tears cascading down her cheeks as though she was making up for her lack of crying in the past.

"Evie… how do you feel?" He asked, moving the sonic screwdriver over her slowly and deliberately, looking for any anomalies in the readings. Then he shook his head; all her readings were anomalous.

"I… I don't know." She said; the tears stopping as she stared at him in confusion.

"Amy… take Evie to her room and put her to bed. She needs her rest." He said. There wasn't even a flicker of resentment or argument from the teenager. Another bad sign.

As soon as the females had gone, the Doctor started pacing again. "What do I know? What is concrete evidence? An Ood told Evie she'd find out the truth about something or other soon. But what will she find out? She has to keep her eyes on the cracks? Which cracks, the ones in the road? No. That isn't right. More important cracks; I'll think about them later."

He returned to the scanner, wondering whether looking more closely at the readings would give him any more information. As he stared at the words and numbers a sudden thought hit him. The TARDIS had taken him to Evie – She had chosen the teenager, not him. He'd had no control over meeting her. So why had the time machine taken him to Lower Appley on August 14th 2009 and again the day after. It was as if she was trying to force him to bring the teenager on board.

"Why would you do that, dear?" He murmured, laying a hand on the console. Instantly numbers flashed on the display beside him – the coordinates for Lower Appley on Saturday 15th August 2009. He pulled the lever beside him and the engines kicked in. "If you say so, old girl."

Going back in his own timeline was a very bad idea, bad things could happen, but the TARDIS wanted him to go there, so that's where he was heading. He waited until they landed before alerting Amy to the fact that something was going on. She wanted to come with him, but he had a feeling that her presence probably wasn't a good idea.

"No, Evie needs you to stay with her. Whatever you do please don't leave her and do not, under any circumstances let her leave the TARDIS." He warned. Realising that he was deadly serious, the red-head nodded and watched as he left. The Doctor considered locking them in, but thought better of it; surely he could trust them to do as he said. A feeling of unease entered his mind as he thought that, but he dismissed it.

Striding across the now familiar village green, the Doctor briefly wondered whether he should be wearing some kind of disguise. Then he remembered he had a different face to the last time he was here. A hat would be nice though. Glancing around, he saw a man wearing a flat cap sitting on the bench, reading a paper. Carefully he plucked it off the man's head and put it on, feeling instantly more comfortable. The man didn't even notice.

It was evening, but there was a pocket of activity on the green. Remembering that it had been the Church Fete the day he first met Evie, he guessed that the people he could see were the remnants of the day's festivities. Momentarily the Doctor wondered how long he'd have to wait for himself to meet Evie. Then he realised he wouldn't have to wait long at all.

Across the green he spotted a large, blue Police box. Grinning, he headed for it, doing his best to stay out of sight of himself. He watched as his previous self had a conversation with the teenager, before leading her over to the TARDIS.

"So… what have I learnt?" The Doctor asked himself, as he watched the blue box. He put his left index finger on his forehead and thinking hard. "Absolutely nothing."

He sighed and shook his head, wondering how he could be so clueless. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something appear at the very edge of his vision at exactly the same time that the second TARDIS dematerialised. Spinning quickly before he missed the figure, the Doctor was gobsmacked to see that he knew who it was.

She was dressed very differently from what he was used to. Gone were the ripped blue jeans, vest top and clumpy trainers that he was used to seeing in various forms. They'd been replaced by skin-tight black jeans, a green t-shirt and sleeveless, puffed black jacket with heavy boots – but it was unmistakably Evie. Her dark hair, much longer than his Evie's, was tied back from her face in a messy bun and at her hip hung a gun in its holster. She glanced around her quickly as though checking whether she'd been spotted, fixed the cover back over a device on her wrist and set off across the green at a run.

The Doctor followed, completely nonplussed as to what he was seeing. As he got closer his excellent vision allowed him to notice subtle differences between 'his' Evie and this one. This Evie had more piercings in her ears; three piercings at the bottom of each and a small emerald stud in the cartilage at the top of her left ear. She also had a word tattooed on the inside of her right wrist. The Doctor couldn't read what it said, but the fact that it was there was odd enough.

Fighting the feeling that he was being followed, the Doctor only turned a couple of times to check that he wasn't. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but his senses told him he was being watched.

They reached a dry stone wall, behind which was a mass of trees and, before the Doctor knew what was happening, the girl had whirled around and was aiming the gun at him. With her head tilted slightly to one side and her eyes narrowed as she glared at him, not to mention the laser gun in her hand, she was terrifying.

"Woah, woah, woah!" The Doctor said, his hands shooting up in the air. "Point that thing away from me, Evie."

"How do you know my name?" She demanded, her gun staying exactly where it was. "And what the hell have you got on your head?"

"Because I know you… and you know me, Evie. I'm the Doctor. And this is my new flat cap."

Her eyes softened slightly, but the gun was still pointing at his head, much to the Doctor's annoyance. "You look different. How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know it's really you?"

"Err… the first time I met you was on a bench on that green over there."

She looked slightly puzzled, but returned her gun to the holster with a flick of her wrist, twirling her finger round the trigger guard as she did so, spinning the gun quickly. "I've never been here before." She said seriously, but then her face broke into a wide beaming smile. "But I was only joking about not knowing who you are, of course I recognise you Doctor. I know you almost as well as I know myself; it's not like we've never met before. Or haven't we yet? No, we must have because you know me."

"What do you mean you're never been here before?" The Doctor asked her, ignoring everything else she'd said without even registering that he'd heard it.

"I mean exactly what I just said. This is my first time at these coordinates and I'm going to be late for my meeting. You coming?"


	2. Classified Information

The Doctor nodded wordlessly, still trying to make connections in his mind. He followed Evie through the trees. The girl didn't seem to be waiting for him to catch her up; she was merely looking at the strap on her wrist and glancing around every now and then to make sure they were heading in the right direction. The Time Lord's brain was almost going into meltdown he was thinking so quickly as he tried to keep up with her. It was harder than he'd expected; chasing a teenage girl through a wood. Not that he did it all that often.

"Are we nearly there yet?" He asked. In front of him the girl took a deep breath and rolled her eyes upwards. He hadn't changed a bit, or wouldn't ever change; she had never been able to get her head around the boring and complicated parts of time travel such as timelines.

"Not far now. The coordinates are pretty specific." She murmured, looking at the device on her wrist once more. He grabbed her arm, making her cry out, half in surprise and half in outrage. "Get off me!"

"What is this?" The Doctor asked, ignoring her words. "Ahh! A modified Vortex Manipulator. But this is…" The technology on the watch-like device was far and away improved from the last one he'd seen. A quick scan with the sonic screwdriver told him that it included a form of satellite navigation, a communications device and the ability to record and transmit sounds, amongst other gadgets. "Wow!"

"Seriously, get off." The girl snapped, pulling her arm out of the Time Lord's grip. She turned and stared out through the trees. Not too far ahead a river was winding its way through the wood and according to the coordinates that was where she needed to be; on the far bank.

"What are we doing here, Evie Jones?" The Doctor asked, following as the female broke into a run, dodging and ducking instinctively as she went.

"Jones?" She asked, sounding amused. "I received a message telling me to be at the spot indicated by the coordinates at 20:02 on August 15th 2009."

"Who was the message from? Who are you? What's going on?" He asked, the questions bursting from him in a rushed babble. Evie turned to him and laughed.

"Can't tell you, Sweetie. Sorry." She said lightly, her gaze flicking up to the flat cap that was still perched on the top of his head at a jaunty angle. "But seriously, if there is the possibility that anyone is going to spot us together, you cannot wear that hat." Before he could stop her, Evie had grabbed it off his head and flung it away over her shoulder. It landed with a small splat in the river and was instantly carried away by the water.

"OI!" He complained, staring in annoyance at his headwear floating away.

"Sorry… but it just had to be done." The girl told him smirking and shrugging. She started walking away, looking for the easiest route across the fast flowing water. After a couple of seconds staring at her back, trying to decide whether he was annoyed or confused, the Doctor followed.

"Why can't you tell me?" He demanded.

Evie gritted her teeth, let out an exasperated sigh and clenched her fists. She almost whispered her answer. "Because it's classified information."

"Classified by who?"

"Classified by me. And seriously, if you don't shut up and let me concentrate then I will have to shut you up, Doctor or no Doctor. Because if we're late… I'm seriously blaming you." She warned. He considered arguing, but he saw her fingers twitching towards the gun in its holster and knew that she wasn't joking. Hopefully she'd remember to put it on the 'stun' setting first, but she would definitely use it. The Doctor decided to keep quiet; for now.

x-x

Back in the TARDIS Amy stared at the doors which had just been closed firmly behind the Doctor. He'd told her not to let Evie out under any circumstances. But why would he say that; because she was ill, or was there some other reason?

Unable to fight her curiosity, the young woman opened the doors and peered around to see what was outside. Whatever she'd been expecting it wasn't this. She appeared to be in a small village; not a million miles away from Leadworth looks wise. She could see the Doctor, now sporting some kind of hat, standing behind a tree, watching a scene unfolding in front of him. A tall, dark haired man was talking to a teenage girl sitting on a bench. As she watched the pair moved and went into a police box. The police box.

"Amy…?" Evie's voice called from behind her. Hastily closing the doors, she whirled around, fixing a smile on her face.

"How you feeling?" She asked anxiously.

"Much better. Where's his highness?"

"Oh…" Amy didn't want Evie to get suspicious. "He just popped out for a minute… for a cigarette."

Evie stared at her, instantly knowing that Amy was lying. The Doctor didn't smoke. He couldn't stand the habit. "What?"

"Damn." The red-head said pulling a face. "I'm rubbish at thinking on the spot."

The teenager grinned. "So… where is he really?"

"Out there." Amy said reluctantly. She knew that they were about to completely go against the Doctor's orders, but she had no chance of getting the feisty teenager to do what she was told. Even the Doctor hardly ever managed that.

"Right… so that's where we're going."

Throwing open the doors Evie looked down at her gun, which was back in its holster after she had realised the dangers of carrying it around in her waistband, checking that it was powered up. She'd taken about a dozen steps before she glanced around her.

"I… I know this place." She said in a low voice, trying to force the relevant memories to the front of her mind. "I used to live here."

"Here?" Amy asked curiously, "So… why are we back?"

"No idea. But that's what I'm going to find out." She turned and smirked at Amy, light dancing in her eyes excitedly. "Come on, Pond."

Knowing that they probably shouldn't, but unable to resist the adventure, Amy closed the TARDIS door and followed the younger girl quickly. They could still see the Doctor, following another figure at a distance and heading for a wood ahead of them. A couple of times, the Time Lord stopped and turned around. Evie's reflexes kicked in and she dived out of sight behind various objects, pulling Amy with her.

"Who's the girl?" Amy whispered as the Doctor stopped and the figure in front of him whirled around, seemingly pointing at him.

Not answering, Evie shook her head, something stirring in her mind. She couldn't put her finger on what it was but, suddenly, the Ood's words were ringing in her mind. 'Evie Jones. It is almost time for you to find out.'

"Evie… they're moving." Amy hissed.

Sure enough the female was leading the Doctor into the woods. Glancing quickly at each other Evie and Amy followed, ducking down behind the stone wall as the Time Lord whipped around. It was only for a split second and then he was off again, trying to keep up with his guide. His companions followed at a safe distance.

Clutching her laser blaster tightly, Evie blinked trying to get rid of the fuzziness in her mind. She shook her head slightly, the words that were haunting her echoing through her head. Stumbling slightly she stopped, glancing to her left.

The same Ood that had been in the TARDIS was standing between the trees watching them. Evie didn't know how she knew that it was the same one; she just knew that it was. Abruptly she stopped, staring at it in confusion. Amy stopped as well, turning and almost screaming as she clapped eyes on the creature.

"What is _that_?" She demanded pointing at the Ood.

"An Ood." Evie said taking a step towards it. The orb in the Ood's hand lit up suddenly, making Amy scream. Rolling her eyes, the younger girl stood still, listening intently.

"Evie Jones. The time is here." It said.

"Here? You mean I'm going to find out… whatever it is that it was almost time for when I saw you before?"

"The time is here. It is time to remember. Goodbye, Evie Jones."

"Goodbye? What d'you mean goodbye?"

"Goodbye, Evie Jones." It repeated looking at her for a moment or two before turning and making its way back through the trees.

"What did it mean goodbye?" Amy demanded. "Evie… what's going on?"

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><p><em><strong>Two versions of Evie in one place? Surely that can NEVER be a good thing? <strong>_

_**Thank you SO much everybody for reading, etc! :) **_

_**Spare two minutes for a comment... please?**_


	3. She's Not Important

Evie didn't answer Amy's question, choosing instead to keep walking, battling with the information whirling around her mind. The words the Ood had used had changed; it was no longer time for her to find out, it was time for her to remember. But remember what?

"Evie!" Amy hissed grabbing her arm and pulling her back out of sight. They'd caught up with the Doctor and his new acquaintance on the bank of a river. Peeking out from behind the trees, Evie watched the scene with confusion.

The girl looked just like her, but different. Looking at her made the teenager's head burn with searing, white hot pain. Amy's eyes were fixed on the exchange in front of them and she didn't notice her friend holding her head with her eyes closed tightly. The female stranger had thrown the Doctor's new hat into the river and he was staring at it in outrage.

"Sorry… but it just had to be done." She said with the hint of a slight laugh in her voice. Evie managed to open her eyes now that the pain had receded slightly. The girl was looking at something on her left wrist and the Doctor was looking at the girl.

"Why can't you tell me?" he was demanding. There had obviously been an answer, because the next thing Amy and Evie heard was the Doctor's angry voice. "Classified by who?"

"Classified by me. And seriously, if you don't shut up and let me concentrate then I will have to shut you up, Doctor or no Doctor. Because if we're late… I'm seriously blaming you." The female exclaimed loudly, exasperation clear in her voice.

"She sounds just like –" Amy started, turning to look at her friend who had slumped to the ground holding her head in her hands.

"Me." Evie whispered, finishing her sentence.

Amy had dropped down beside her and placed a hand either side of Evie's face. "Right… I don't care whether he goes mad I'm going to get the Doctor."

"No!"

"Evie… no offence but you look terrible." The red-head said not bothering to be tactful. Evie smirked slightly, feeling as though she was being stabbed in the head.

"Yeah… thanks, offence taken. But you can't let him know we're here. Besides, look…" She pointed and saw that the Doctor and his companion had crossed the river now and were looking expectantly around.

"Well tough!" Amy stood up and ran from their hiding place, waving her arms and calling to the Doctor.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded annoyed. "I told you to stay with Evie."

The girl beside him turned and shot him a curious look. Then she turned and waved at the red-head, beaming widely at her. Amy got the strangest feeling that she knew her and twitched as her natural instinct was to wave back.

"Alright, Ames?" The girl shouted. Amy noticed that there was a strange look on her face as she watched her. It was somewhere between relief and hope. The girl seemed to be trying to work something out quickly in her head. Her mouth twitched, as though she'd been about to say something but quickly stopped herself, looking away hurriedly.

"I did stay with Evie… when she ran out of the TARDIS and followed you." Amy explained, ignoring the question, before fixing her eyes on the dark-haired girl at the Doctor's side. "Who's she?"

"Oh… she's not important." He said flippantly.

"Thanks!" The girl exclaimed, punching him on the arm. The Doctor made a face, rubbing the spot she'd hit and stepped towards Amy.

"Where's Evie. Is she alright?"

"No… there's something really wrong. She's just over there." Amy pointed.

"Bring her closer." He ordered. "Bring her right to the edge of the river and I can check her over."

Doing as she was told, the young woman helped her friend towards the river, supporting her weight almost completely. It was almost as if the life was draining out of Evie in front of Amy's eyes. The girl beside the Doctor clapped her hands over her mouth as she saw the girl being carried closer to her.

Evie's eyes snapped open as she got close enough. She looked at the stranger, their gaze meeting. Her mind was suddenly full of new memories, new information. All the muddled thoughts in her mind were settling back into their rightful places. Suddenly everything was clear; she was remembering.

By the look on the other Evie's face she, too, was seeing a whole new range of pictures and information in her head. They stood, staring into each other's eyes, while Amy and the Doctor watched uneasily. Something was clearly happening between them but not even the Time Lord understood what it was.

A final picture rested in both their minds, as though it was telling them what to do. The picture from the newspaper, all those months ago, stared at them. A photo of something that hadn't even happened yet as they stood on the river banks looking at each other. Breaking the connection, the Evie standing with Amy looked down at herself. She was wearing the outfit from the photograph. Suddenly she knew what had to be done.

"Do it." She urged the other Evie hastily. "You have to. 20:02, remember. You _have_ to do this."

"I-I can't." She whispered in reply. Shaking her head violently she closed her eyes not wanting to think about the thing she knew she had to do. She'd been trained for this. It had been explained to her over and over again. She knew what was supposed to happen.

"Evie… you have to, remember." Breathlessly, Evie suddenly made sense of the Ood's message. He didn't want her to _remember_ something specific, he wanted her to remind her other self that what was about to happen needed to be done. "If you don't do it now it'll happen again." Evie warned, glaring at the girl across the river. A stabbing pain ripped through her stomach, causing her to stagger slightly. Amy moved towards her, but Evie pushed her away. "And I can't do it again."

"I'm sorry." The girl said, drawing her laser blaster quickly from its holster and aiming it directly at Evie. Her face was set in a grim mask of determination. The eyes that were fixed on the face in front of her were cold and emotionless. When she spoke, her voice was similarly devoid of feeling. "Goodbye, Evie Jones."

"Goodbye."

Evie pulled the trigger. A jet of bright red light emerged from the barrel and hit her other self directly in the chest. She lurched back, before hitting the ground. Amy bent over her, screaming. The teenager opened her eyes weakly and shot her a wink. She tried to smirk, before a deep shudder passed through her body as the last bit of life left her.

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><p><em><strong>What just happened? o_O Evie's dead? Again?<strong>_

_**Comments?**_


	4. Ask Me A Question

"What have you done?" The Doctor screamed in her face. Evie, the one with the laser blaster still clutched tightly in her hand, shook her head.

"Don't worry about her, Doctor. Trust me." She said quietly.

"Trust you? Trust you!" He whirled around to face her. "Why should I trust you? You just killed my… my… my Evie!"

The girl smirked and rolled her eyes. He stared at her, completely furious that not only had she just killed the teenager but she also didn't seem remotely bothered by that fact. Glancing at her Vortex Manipulator, she gave a slight shivering sigh and glanced over at Amy. The numbers clicked round to 20:02 as she glanced back at the dial… things were just getting started.

"You might want to stand back, Ames." She advised before returning her gun to the holster, planting her feet firmly on the ground and tilting her head back slightly so that she was looking upwards. She eased her eyelids closed, a single tear escaping out and down her cheek.

Amy was about to give the girl a piece of her mind, a stream of choice words formulating in her brain, when the body beside her started to vibrate violently. She moved backwards quickly, her eyes fixed on the form. The Doctor, who by this time had leapt back over to the other river bank and was kneeling beside it, looked gobsmacked.

Without warning, a golden light erupted out of the teenager's body, spiralling upwards where it hung in the air for a fraction of a second before hurtling towards the girl standing on the opposite bank. It plunged aggressively into her body, throwing her backwards into a tree trunk.

Then there was nothing. Just silence.

Amy and the Doctor looked at each other, trying to understand what had happened. Using the sonic screwdriver, the Time Lord scanned the body beside him, narrowing his eyes at the readings it was giving out. According to the sonic it was not human. It was just some kind of empty shell.

"Oi!" A voice called from across the river. "There's no point crying over spilt milk. Or, in this case, an empty shell."

"Get over here. Now!" The Doctor ordered. Rolling her eyes, the teenager did as she was told, effortlessly leaping across the stepping stones across the rushing water.

"You are so demanding!" She teased with a smirk. But the Time Lord wasn't in the mood for light-hearted remarks. He was still fussing around the body on the ground. Kneeling beside him, Evie laid a hand on his arm. "You know that isn't me, Sweetie. It's not human; the sonic screwdriver is telling you that, isn't it?"

"Who are you?" He demanded, rounding on her furiously.

"You know who I am. You said so yourself. I'm Evie." She told him calmly.

"Will someone please tell me what's happening?" Amy ordered, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring between the Doctor and Evie.

"I'm me. I'm Evie; the _real_ Evie." The teenager said with a genuine smile. "You have to trust me or this really isn't going to work. And if this doesn't work… well, that's when the problems start."

"Why should I trust you? Prove you're Evie." Amy demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"Ask me a question. Something only you and I would know." Evie suggested.

Amy thought for a moment, trying to think of something that would make her believe this girl. Then she smiled. "What did you tell me, that night when I was seven and you came back? You whispered something in my ear as you said goodbye. What was it?"

"I told you to trust the doctor because he always keeps his promises if he can." Evie answered without hesitation. Amy looked at her for a minute before leaping to her feet and throwing her arms around the teenager.

"You _are_ her? You're really her!" She squealed, hugging her tightly. Evie hugged her back, laughing.

"Of course I'm me! Who else would I be?"

"How, though? What happened?" The Doctor asked, standing up and starting to pace as he always did when he was confused.

Rolling her eyes and leaving him to stew, the teenager moved across to her body, shuddering slightly as she looked at it. Then she started to rip the clothes, rubbing dirt into them and making it seem as though there had been some kind of struggle. She unbuckled the holster from around the teenager's waist and threw it over to Amy.

"Hold that a sec would you, love?" She asked smiling.

"Err… OK? What are you doing?" Amy asked curiously, looking at the laser blaster in the holster in her hand as though it would go off any second.

"There were photos, weren't there?" Evie asked the Doctor. "In the newspaper report about the murder. What did the body look like? Is this it, or do I need to beat it up a bit more?"

"No!" The Doctor said, stopping her causing any more damage to the body. Even though he knew it wasn't Evie anymore, there was no denying the evidence of the readings from the sonic screwdriver, he couldn't bring himself to let the teenager destroy the body.

"Alright, I was only asking." She said with a shrug, dragging the body by the feet down to the edge of the river. Letting the legs, from the knees down, dangle in the water she positioned it so that it wasn't quite able to be washed away.

"What _are_ you doing?" He asked, finally unable to hold his tongue anymore.

"Setting up my own death, Sweetie." She said breathlessly, winking at him. She flipped the cover on her Vortex Manipulator and pressed a button, listening intently with the device pressed against her ear. "Ah… OK."

"What?"

"Instructions; I need to get the body ready for discovery." She said simply, moving around the figure and staring up at the sky. She was actually staring up at the trees. Taking out her laser gun she turned down the intensity dial and fired a single shot. The shot hit the highest branch of the highest tree which crashed down onto the canopy, making a thicker covering for the clearing.

Amy pulled a face as the teenager moved away, measuring distances in strides and adjusting the body accordingly. She glanced at the Doctor who just shrugged. Finally she seemed satisfied with her work and glanced up at her friends from where she was squatting beside the body.

"What have you been doing?" The Time Lord asked narrowing his eyes at her.

"There's going to be a rainstorm in three weeks which will be heavy enough bring that branch crashing down and narrowly avoid impaling the body. But it _will_ partially block the river, which will mean that when the forestry people come to clear the blockage… viola! They find the body, assume it's been washed up and caught on the branches and bam! Evie Jones has been murdered." Evie explained quickly, hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

"That's… genius!" Amy breathed, wide-eyed. Evie winked at her triumphantly.

"How can you know that's what will happen?" The Doctor argued. Evie sighed.

"An educated guess." She told him. "I can't tell you, Doctor. It's classified, OK? Now, shall we get out of here?" She asked grinning and holding out her hand for the holster she'd thrown to her friend. Amy beamed handing it back. Evie pulled out the weapon, examining it as she walked. The Doctor watched her curiously, not for the first time.

No sooner had they left the area, vanishing through the dense trees, than a woman appeared in a flash of bright, white light. She glanced around and her eyes fell on the body carefully placed on the ground. She closed her eyes for a moment, sighing deeply. Then she crossed to the body and knelt down beside it, gently stroking its hair.

"See you soon, Sweetie." She murmured, bending to brush her lips against the teenager's forehead.


	5. Now It All Makes Sense

Back in the TARDIS, Evie went straight to her bedroom, returning a moment later with the newspaper reporting on her death clutched tightly in her hands. She spread it open on the TARDIS console, patting the machine lovingly as she did so. Amy could have sworn she'd seen the scanner flashing at her touch, almost as though it were returning the fond sentiments.

"Right… look." She said, pointing to the main article. "'_The body of Evie Jones, who turned eighteen just a week before her disappearance last month' _blah blah blah _'was discovered on Tuesday night, washed up by the River Appley just ten minutes from the farm_' blah blah blah. _'Heavy rainfall caused a blockage in the river which meant that Miss Jones' body was caught on the branches stopping the flow.'_ See… told you." She said, smirking smugly.

"Which came first, the newspaper article, or your plan?" The Doctor asked slowly, observing her suspiciously. Evie stared blankly back before looking down and folding up the newspaper carefully.

"Does it matter?" She asked moving towards the corridors, intending to return the paper to her bedroom.

"Yes."

Sending him a faint-hearted smile, Evie didn't answer, continuing her journey to the bedroom and closing the door firmly. She leant against it, closing her eyes. She knew what had just happened and she knew exactly what the past months had been about; they had been bringing her back here. She even knew the reason. But she had to keep that hidden from the Doctor and from Amy.

She knew so much more about them than they did about her. They'd done things together, with the Doctor more so than Amy, that hadn't even happened to them yet. One word in the wrong place, one reference to something important could change the whole course of her history and then where would she be. Here? Possibly not.

She understood now that all the knowledge that had burst into her mind when she'd met Donna Noble hadn't been an extension of things that Donna knew, it had been her mind – her real mind – bursting back into life, fighting with the fake life that had been created around her. That was the precise moment that the process had started. But it had been too early, because Evie wasn't supposed to meet Donna.

She glanced at the photograph propped up beside her bed; the one that Doctor had drawn her attention to. The one with the woman's smiling face almost hidden, right in the corner. Now she knew who the woman was Evie smirked and shook her head.

"Typical… I bet you just couldn't resist, could you?" She muttered, resting her finger lightly on the picture.

Evie jumped as someone knocked on her door. Dropping the newspaper on her bed, Evie glanced quickly in the full-length mirror beside the door and gathered her senses. She opened the door, a serene smile on her face.

"Hey." Amy said, pushing past her into the bedroom. Evie smiled and sat down heavily on the bed, pulling off her boots before jumping up again and rooting around in the wardrobe for some different clothes.

"Eurgh… the old me didn't have much taste, did she?" She said with a grin. "This is all… I dunno… teenage."

"But, you are a teenager, aren't you?" Amy asked, puzzled. "I mean you were eighteen when you died."

"Yes but I wasn't _actually_…" she started, turning to face her friend. Then she trailed off, thinking about what she'd been told in that office building on Philosius VI. "Oh… now it _all_ makes sense; that's what she meant. It was too soon for me to be there. It probably wasn't supposed to start until I was almost twenty." Then she shrugged casually. "But I don't suppose it matters now. The paper said I was eighteen, obviously the early conclusion was compensated for."

"What the hell are you on about?" Amy asked staring at her. "Aren't you eighteen?"

"Nope." Evie said, holding a sky blue t-shirt up against herself in front of the mirror. Then she curled up her lip and threw the t-shirt on top of the pile of other clothes she'd decided she didn't like. "I'm nineteen. Almost twenty, technically."

"What d'you mean 'technically'?"

"Well… I travelled through time, as well as space to get here, right? So where I came from it was a month before my twentieth birthday."

"Where did you come from?"

Evie smiled. "Classified information, Ames. Sorry."

"So you're not from… wherever we were when you died? You said you were. You told me so." The red-head continued, trying to get Evie to tell her as much as she could.

"It's difficult to explain. And under no circumstances are you to tell him out there anything I tell you. Nothing, promise me."

"OK, but why?"

"It's dangerous… again, it's complicated to explain. But if the Doctor – or any traveller in time really – finds out something that they're not supposed to know from their future then bad, bad things will happen. Imagine that it's like if you found out what the answers to a test were then went back and took it. Actually no, that's not helpful. But it's sort of like that. And I've got more to lose than most if the Doctor messes up his timeline." She said with a grim smile.

Amy nodded. "OK, I won't say anything. I promise."

"It was like a time loop that was going round and round. Maybe that's why it happened faster this time. Remember what I said to myself to make me shoot?" She asked, trying to unscramble the meaning of her own question. Amy nodded.

"You said you had to remember. That if you didn't do it this time, it would happen again and that you couldn't do it again."

"See… it's obvious when you make the right connections." Evie said with a grin pulling a long, white sleeveless t-shirt out of the wardrobe. "Oh, I quite like this."

"What connections? I don't get it." Amy stood up and walked over to her friend, gently pulling the top out of her hands and looking into her eyes. "Tell me."

"If I didn't do it… kill myself… it would happen again… the time loop… and I _couldn't_ do it again." She sighed. "I think, this time, it was the last chance. In my head I'd been in that spot so many times and not been able to go through with it. I saw myself typing coordinates into the Vortex Manipulator and going back. But I also saw that I was already dying. If I didn't do it this time, I couldn't do it again, because it would be too late."

"Alright… I think I understand." Amy said smiling. "But… why the time loop? Why would you have to go round and round until you shot yourself?"

Evie grinned. "That's something that I _really_ can't tell you. It's classified information of epic proportions."

"Fair enough." Amy shrugged. Then she turned her attention back to the top she was still clutching. "Tell you what… there's some boots in the main wardrobe that would look amazing with that top and a pair of leggings."

x-x

"Where are we heading then, spaceman?" Evie asked, striding across the console room in her new outfit. He raised her eyebrows slightly.

"You look older." The Doctor said simply, moving to the scanner.

"That's because I am older." She replied equally simply before tilting her head and staring at him. Her eyes seemed too old for the rest of her; as though she'd seen far more than most people had at her age. "How can I make you trust me again?"

"I don't know." He admitted shaking his head.

"Brilliant. That's hopeful then." Evie grinned, moving to the opposite side of the TARDIS console and started to move levers and dials. He walked to her side, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her away from the controls.

"You obviously came from somewhere, so surely you have somewhere to be." He said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

"Nope." She told him, wriggling from his grasp and skipping away. "Everything was being pinned on to two minutes past eight this evening. And now the world is my oyster for a while!"

"You said you were late for a meeting?"

"Oh, Sweetie." She looked at him slightly pityingly. "A meeting with myself. Come on, speed up." He growled, not used to being talked to like that by anyone, especially Evie. She just laughed and tapped at the TARDIS console.

"What about your sisters then? Don't you want to go and see them?" He asked.

Sadness flashed through Evie's eyes as she remembered them. "They aren't real, Doctor. Just a part of the cover story created around me. Erin and Millie don't exist. Well, they do, but if you went to find them they'd have absolutely no recollection of you, me or anything else."

Turning away so that he couldn't see her face, she pressed a button on her Vortex Manipulator. She groaned as she read the message displayed there.

"What is it?"

"Looks like you're getting your wish." She said with a weak smile. "I have to go. I've got no choice in the matter."

"Why?"

"The TARDIS just sent me a message… from the future. Time's up." She said confusingly with a broad grin. "Don't worry, Doctor. I'll be seeing you before you know it. And that's when things get interesting."

She winked, pressed a button on the Vortex Manipulator and vanished in a flash.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Two parts in one day? Aren't you the lucky ones! ;)<em>**

**_Comments? Please? :D_**


	6. A TeenyTiny Mistake

"He asked about you." The curly haired woman said offhandedly.

"Who?" Evie asked, glancing up from her bed. She smirked at the look she was receiving and glanced down again at the book she was reading. She knew perfectly well who the woman was referring to. "What did he say?"

"He asked if you were with me." River informed her, tilting her head and smiling slightly. "Or if I'd seen you."

"And you said no?"

"Of course I did. Just like every other time he asks before the right time."

"What if he comes here?"

"He won't. Not until after, anyway. Besides, we'd get plenty of warning seeing as he leaves the brakes on. I'd just shove you under the bed." River joked, laughing and moving to the mirror on the cell wall where she began scrutinising her reflection.

Evie sighed and screwed up her face. "Thanks! When am I allowed out again?"

River raised her eyebrows and glanced to the right, looking pointedly at the bars across the prison cell as if they'd give the teenager her answer. "Besides, you're grounded."

"So I make one teeny-tiny mistake and you decide you have the right to ground me. It's not as though you're so perfect." She pointed out, irritated.

"A teeny-tiny mistake? Evie, you used the hallucinogenic lipstick to fool an entire squadron of clerics into giving you their spacecraft. That's twelve men, Sweetie." River said turning away from the mirror and raising her eyebrows as if trying to signify how far from a 'teeny-tiny mistake' she thought the teenager's actions had been.

"Honestly, River… that was nearly a year ago. And I only borrowed their ship." Evie said defensively, curling her legs up and hugging them with her chin resting on her knees.

"Mmm… you were planning to return it after you crashed it into the moon, were you?" River continued keeping her gaze fixed on her reflection; the more she remembered the incident the more annoyed she got. The young woman made a growling sound in her throat of annoyance. "Don't you dare get sulky with me, madam."

"Well it wasn't my fault that the secondary axles jammed and caused the engines to fail, was it? That ship was a death trap." Evie argued, defending herself. "I'm almost twenty, River. You can't treat me like a child forever."

"If you act like a child, Evie, I'll treat you like one."

"Twelve clerics? Doesn't sound like a child's actions to me!"

"No… but the fact that I helped you understand exactly what you needed to do in that time loop and yet it took you thirteen attempts, proves that you are not ready to be let loose yet."

"But surely the fact that I did it in the end means that I'm ready. I mean, I shot and killed myself and then covered it up without even batting an eyelid." Evie countered. "I proved I can be just as cold and calculating as you can when you want to be, River."

"And that is exactly the reason why you do deserve to be locked up, Sweetie." River said, smirking. Evie glared at her, knowing that she would never win this particular argument. The woman had had far too long to work out her point of view and how to oppose anything the teenager said.

"Where were you this time, anyway?" She asked standing up and moving over to the bookcase opposite the pair of beds that were head-to-toe along one wall. With her back to the older woman, Evie could close her eyes and picture the scene that would be described to her.

"New New York." River said with a contented sigh, remembering the events of the day. "A race of giant cyber-rats terrorising the population."

"Sounds like fun. Was Amy with him?"

"No. He was on his own; it was just me and him." River told her. Evie didn't need to look at the woman to imagine the smile that would be playing about her lips.

"Just the way you like it then?" She said spikily, raising an eyebrow.

"For one so young you aren't half cynical." The woman laughed, walking over and putting her hands on Evie's shoulders turning her around so that she could look at the expression on her face. The younger woman smiled weakly.

"I learnt from the best, didn't I, River?" She said, raising her eyebrows.

River laughed happily, throwing back her head and spinning on her toes. She moved across the cell and threw herself down on her bed. "That's very true. But what have I told you about calling me 'River' in here?"

"Sorry… I keep forgetting." Evie apologised with a shrug, sitting heavily bedside her and peering at the TARDIS diary that the woman had just opened and was flicking through, looking for the next blank page. "Now, tell me about these cyber-rats!"

x-x

The phone began to ring in the corridor outside their cell. River, sitting cross-legged on her bed, hardly glanced up from her diary where she was writing down her latest adventure with the Doctor. Evie, who had been leaning against the wall staring out at the storm, watched anxiously as a guard walked over and answered it. Outside the weather was forbidding; thunder and lightning, reflecting the way the women were feeling.

"_Cell 46… the Doctor? D'you mean Doctor Song?_"

"_Give me that._" River demanded, leaping over to the bars. Evie was instantly beside her, eager to find out who was ringing. "_Seriously, just give it to me. I'm entitled to phone calls._"

The guard looked reluctant, almost as though he wasn't sure whether it was a good idea. The younger woman flashed him her most innocent smile, knowing that River would almost certainly be glaring ferociously at him. As his eyes flickered to Evie's face, he relaxed slightly and did as he had been commanded. The young woman guessed that seeming innocent and harmless was the best thing about looking younger than you were.

"_Doctor?_" River asked. Evie knew that it was her job to keep the guards distracted while she spoke to the Time Lord; it always had been her job. She resisted the urge to turn and glance over her shoulder as River's voice became barely audible. Instead she gazed flirtatiously at the guard, keeping his attention fixed on her. "_You're phoning the Time Vortex, it doesn't always work. But the TARDIS is smart; she's re-routed the call. Talk quickly, this connection will last less than a minute._"

"Who's she talking to?" The guard asked Evie as the woman stopped speaking and listened carefully to whoever was on the line. She shrugged, smiling enigmatically at the young man, who was doing his best to keep his features under control. Shaking his head slightly, he moved his gaze to the back of River's head. "_Doctor Song? You finished with that._"

Evie glanced over her shoulder, knowing what was coming next. It would follow the same pattern as always; on with the hallucinogenic lipstick, one quick kiss and bam, they'd be out of the cell and hiding in the store cupboard while the teenager was given her orders.

"_You're new here, aren't you?_" River said seductively, handing the phone back through the bars. Evie moved away from her and the guard quickly before she started feeling sick. She severely disliked River's seductive voice.

"_First day._" He told her almost reluctantly. The women could hear the nerves in his voice. Evie smirked slightly; poor guy, he had no idea what was about to hit him.

"_Then I'm very sorry._" River said. Evie didn't have to turn around to picture the scene. Moving to the back wall of the cell, she pulled out a marker pen and drew a small picture of a curly-haired woman with a speech bubble beside her. Inside the bubble she wrote the word 'bye'. Because Evie wasn't technically a prisoner in Stormcage, the guards never seemed to care when she disappeared for a while, as long as she came back, so she didn't bother adding herself to the picture.

"Evie? Ready to run?" River asked smirking as the girl turned quickly to look at her.

Evie returned her smile, putting her hands on her hips. "Why do you always feel the need to ask whether I'm ready to run? You should know the answer to that one. I was born running, mother."

* * *

><p><em><strong>o_O See that one coming? I didn't! *What a liar!*<strong>_

_**Thoughts?**_


	7. No Stupid Risks, Yeah?

"I'm going to the Royal collection to pick up the painting and then I need to head over to The Maldovarium to pick up another Vortex Manipulator, seeing as you've got my old one." River told her daughter in a low voice. They were crammed inside the store cupboard with the cleaners' products and equipment discussing the plan before they went. "I need you to go to back in time as far as you can on Planet 1. Then you have to write this on the diamond cliff, OK?"

Evie glanced down at the scrap of paper her mother had handed her and screwed up her face, trying to translate the writing. "Isn't this…"

"Yes, it is; High Gallifreyan. We don't want everyone understanding it, do we? It's a message for the Doctor, and only him. I'll send you coordinates telling him where to meet us when I know what they are. So you'll have to stick around until you get them so you can write them on the wall as well. You need to make sure you write it nice and big, Sweetie, get his attention, alright?"

"Why don't I do the Royal Collection and then this? I mean… it might take you ages to find a Vortex Manipulator."

River laughed. "Nice try. No, you're doing the cliff and only the cliff. Trust me, honey, you'll have plenty of time to be a hero when we meet the Doctor. Heaven knows you'll need to be brave then."

"Why? What's happening?" Evie asked, checking the dials on her laser blaster before tucking it back into its holster.

"I don't know, but it's bad." River said. "When you've finished on Planet 1, go to the coordinates I send and I'll meet you."

"You haven't got any way of travelling through time." Evie pointed out. "How are you going to do whatever you're planning on doing?"

"It's fine, Sweetie. I can stay in this time until I get the Vortex Manipulator. Then I'll use that to come and meet you." She hugged her daughter, her best friend, tightly. River closed her eyes and breathed deeply. As Evie couldn't see her face, River allowed the fear that she was feeling to display itself over her features. When she moved away and looked at the teenager again she was calm and serious once more. "And whatever you do, Evie, be careful."

"You too, mum. No stupid risks, yeah? And at least _try_ not to kiss anyone else. You're old and it's wrong." Evie ordered her grinning. With a wink, she pressed the button on the Vortex manipulator and vanished.

x-x

Evie reappeared in front of a huge rock face, shimmering and shining in the daylight. It was beautiful and made of pure diamond.

But the young woman didn't waste time admiring the scenery. Taking out her laser blaster and changing the setting, she held the scrap of paper in front of her and copied the symbols carefully. One mistake and she would ruin the whole message. Although the message itself made the teenager smirk, 'Hello, Sweetie'. Even at a time like this her mother took delight in teasing the Doctor.

When she was done, Evie put the gun back into her holster and looked around. All she had to do was wait until the message with the coordinates came through. That could take no time at all. On the other hand it could take a very, very long time. She was sitting on a rock in Year 0. She could have gone earlier, but Evie didn't see the point. Knowing the Doctor when he arrived he wouldn't go any further back than this. Her mother was 5,145 years in the future. Hopefully Evie wouldn't have to wait quite _that_ long for the message.

It did take a couple of hours, however. Evie was almost falling asleep with boredom when her Vortex Manipulator vibrated slightly and beeped. Jumping, she pressed the button bringing up the message and added the coordinates underneath the fifty-foot high symbols.

Then she typed the same coordinates into her time travel device, pressed a button and vanished, just as a familiar wheezing, whirring sound filled the air. The teenager smirked.

x-x

The coordinates took her to some kind of camp. Judging by the looks of the men wandering around it was a Roman camp. Evie had only taken a couple of steps when a tall centurion appeared in front of her, blocking her path. It was at times like this when she wished her mother would let her have her own hallucinogenic lipstick.

"What is your business here, child?" He asked. The Vortex Manipulator on her wrist translated his Latin into English so that she could understand him.

"A, I am not a child." She snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "And B, my business here is none of your… business."

He looked at her curiously, obviously not used to women acting like that. Then he surveyed her outfit curiously. Evie waited for the inevitable comments, 'what are you?' being the most common. While she was waiting, Evie raised her hands to her hair, pulling out the band and shaking her dark curls loose. They were not as tight as her mother's, falling in large, loose ringlets around her shoulders. People always thought she spent time and effort curling it like that, but no, it was natural; Evie didn't have time to bother about her hair. Then she scooped her hair back up into a tight, high pony-tail so that it was away from her face, before flexing her fingers towards the gun at her hip.

"There's no need for that, Sweetie." A husky voice said to her right. Evie turned and saw her mother, wearing a black wig and gold head-dress, watching her with an amused smirk. Then she turned to the centurion and nodded. "She's with me."

He bowed his head before walking away. River held out her arms and raised one eyebrow. Almost reluctantly, Evie hugged her mother, relieved that she was alright. The older woman held her daughter tightly. Confused, Evie pulled herself out of her mother's grip. Although River had always shown her daughter lots of affection – probably something to do with the fact that the woman had grown up without her mother and was determined that her own daughter wouldn't know how that felt – the way she was acting was worrying the teenager immensely.

"Mum… what's going on?" She asked suspiciously. River avoided the question, and Evie's sharp gaze.

"Did you manage alright? The writing and the coordinates?"

"Of course. I'm guessing you got what you were looking for?" She said looking at the Vortex Manipulator on her mother's wrist. It wasn't nearly as high-tech as her own, but it would do the job well enough.

"I did… come and see." River took her hand and led her into a tent that was well furnished and came complete with a lot of servants. She clapped her hands and they all left. River unrolled something on the table before standing back and letting her daughter have a close look at it. While Evie was scrutinising the painting, her mother was rummaging around in a chest near the door. She pulled out a long tunic and threw it to her. "Here, put this on. You won't stand out as much."

Evie dropped her backpack and changed quickly while River kept a look out to make sure no one came in. Then they went back to looking at the painting carefully. The TARDIS was exploding, splitting into pieces in a burst of white light. On the door of the blue Police Box Evie recognised the coordinates that her mother had sent her.

"Your highness…" A man's voice said, pushing back the flap of the tent and coming inside. He stopped, seeing Evie standing beside her mother. His hand moved instantly towards the sword at his side. River smiled, moving towards him and pressing something into her daughter's hand as she went.

Looking down, Evie saw the hallucinogenic lipstick and smiled too, knowing instinctively what she was supposed to do. Turning her back for a moment, she applied it to her lips and walked towards her mother, smiling at the man innocently.

"This is my daughter, Captain." River said smoothly. She took a deep breath, mentally reconciling herself with what she was asking her daughter to do and put a reassuring hand on the teenager's back as Evie reached her side. Not that the younger woman needed reassuring, she was perfectly calm.

"Cleopatra does not have a daughter." The man said hesitantly. "Who are you?"

Evie smiled. "Like she said, I'm her daughter." She told him, grabbing the point on his clothing where his cloak met his body armour, so that she could pull him towards her and kiss him firmly on the lips. After a second he stopped struggling and Evie moved backwards. He was smiling stupidly.

"Your highnesses." He said, his eyes not focusing properly. "Caesar is arrived."

"Lovely." River said with a broad smile. The teenager saw immediately that it was forced and knew that her mother was stressed. "Send him in."

"Cleopatra? Caesar?" Evie asked with a raised eyebrow as the man left and her mother returned to the table, rolling up the painting and tucking it underneath her 'throne' with Evie's backpack. "What?"

"It's the Doctor. I might have told them he was Caesar. Anyway, you know the rules, back to calling me River, please Sweetie. And not a word about the fact you've been with me. They don't know who we are yet."

"Of course not." Evie snapped, scowling and dropping onto a stool by River's feet. Her mother smiled knowingly, resting her hand lightly on the teenager's shoulder until the servants reappeared. "I know the rules."

Evie did know the rules; she understood very clearly the problems that might arise if she said something in the wrong place or at the wrong time. And then the consequences would be drastic, especially for her. It didn't mean she had to like it, though.


	8. It Can't Be Real

_**From now on there are spoilers for 'A Good Man Goes to War', as well as 'The Pandorica Opens' and 'The Big Bang' … sorry if you haven't seen it yet! **_

_**Oh! So many spoilers!**_

* * *

><p>"<em>Hello, Sweetie<em>." River said taking a sip of wine from the goblet that had just been handed to her by one of her 'servants'. Evie glanced up from her spot on the ground beside her mother and beamed at her friends who had just walked into the tent.

"_River? Hi._" Amy said looking around her, obviously impressed. Then she glanced down and noticed Evie. "Hey! Where've you been? We haven't seen you in… ages."

"Yeah…" The girl said with a grin. "I've been a bit busy."

Amy looked as though she was about to explode with questions after that empty explanation but the Doctor, his eyes fixed on River, spoke instead.

"_You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the universe._" He said accusingly to River, leaning forward slightly and talking in a low voice.

"_You wouldn't answer your phone._" She murmured back. "And technically I didn't graffiti anything. Evie did it." Evie pulled a face of disbelief that her own mother would drop her in it like that. The Doctor glanced at her outraged expression quickly, barely concealing a smirk. Then he returned his gaze to River, looking serious again.

"Did you tell her to?"

"Well, yes…" She said slowly, narrowing her eyes and knowing what was coming next.

"Then I'm still blaming you." He said, the hint of a smirk playing about his lips. "Hello, by the way Evie Jones."

"I'm not actually Evie Jones; I told you that before." she told him, smirking. "My name is Evie Robinson."

River's mouth twitched into a matching smirk at the reference that she and her daughter understood but the Doctor wouldn't for a while yet; not until he met President Nixon in 1969.

Technically, because Evie had been born in Stormcage, her birth was never registered properly. That meant that she didn't actually have a surname, which then meant that she could change it on a whim. It also meant that she was virtually untraceable on any system, which came in handy. As well as that there was nothing to link her to River in situations such as this; being called Evie Song was a bit of a giveaway. Even the Doctor would probably be able to work that one out. Besides River had never, as far as the teenager was aware, called her Evie Song.

'Cleopatra' clapped her hands and the servants left them. When she was sure the four of them were alone she held out the rolled up painting to the Doctor gazing at his face and trying to read his expression.

"_What's this?_" he whispered, looking as though the object were about to explode.

"_It's a painting. Your friend Vincent... one of his final works. He had visions, didn't he?_" River was saying worriedly. If he was listening, the Doctor wasn't showing it. Hastily he unrolled the picture, laying it flat on the table. All four of them looked at it in awe as it was revealed. "_I thought you ought to know about this one._"

Amy looked terrified as she took in the subject of the painting. Evie was also still shaken by the images, so much so that, out of sight of the Doctor and Amy she reached for her mother's hand, holding it tightly. The image of the exploding TARDIS was something that Evie felt that she, nor anyone else, should never witness; on canvass or in reality.

"_Doctor… Doctor what is this?_" Amy asked. The Doctor moved away, collapsing into a chair, pain clear on his face. Seeing the image must have ripped his heart to pieces; all three women in the room knew how much he loved his time machine. "_Why's it exploding?_"

"_I assume it's some kind of warning._" River told her quickly, squeezing Evie's fingers before letting go and trailing her hand over the picture.

"_What? Something's going to happen to the TARDIS?_"

"_It might not be that literal._" The older woman said before turning to the Doctor once more. "_Anyway, this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign, see?_"

The Doctor looked up. His eyes held some kind of panic, but his manner was composed. When he spoke his tone was authoritative and urgent, but also strangely calm. "_Does it have a title?_"

River looked at him carefully. "_The Pandorica Opens._"

"_The Pandorica?_" Amy asked as Evie gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, remembering the fairy tales her mother had told her as a small child. River's versions of stories hadn't always been the most child-friendly, but then again Evie hadn't really been a normal child. "_What is it?_"

"_A box, a cage, a prison._" River explained ignoring her daughter's stifled outburst. "_It was built to contain the most feared thing in all the universe._"

"_And it's a fairy tale, a legend. It can't be real._" The Doctor argued, pacing again. He shot a quick glance at Evie and then at River, suddenly remembering the words that they'd both used on separate occasions when he'd called the Pandorica a fairy tale before, 'Aren't we all?'

"_If it is real it's here and it's opening. And it's got something to do with your TARDIS exploding._" River snapped back as he started unrolling maps and laying them out on top of the painting on the table. "_Hidden, obviously, buried for centuries. You won't find it on a map!_"

"_No, but if you buried the most dangerous thing in the universe you'd want to remember where you put it._" He said in a low, grave voice. "Think… Evie, any guesses?"

"Old, massive landmark in Britain… majorly old." She muttered, thinking out loud. Then the answer hit her and she laughed. "Stonehenge! That's older than anyone can imagine."

"Brilliant!" The Doctor said grinning. "Just what I was thinking." He gathered up his maps and headed towards the tent flap, Amy on his heels.

"That's my girl." River muttered proudly, under her breath.

"Sorry?" The Doctor asked, glancing at her. With his brilliant hearing he'd heard the woman whisper something, but hadn't quite been able to decipher it.

"Nothing." River said, shrugging casually and pushing past him to the flap of the tent. "I just said what a girl." She leant out and attracted the attention of a passing centurion, ordering him to fetch four horses. "Now, Doctor, out."

"What?" He looked confused, glancing around for an explanation.

"Evie and I need to get changed." River explained with a smirk. "We can't go galloping across the countryside dressed like this, can we now?"

x-x

Evie, feeling much more comfortable in her tight black jeans, white t-shirt and red hooded zip-up jacket, leant against the canvas of the tent watching what was going on around them. Her outfit though similar to her mother's in practicality, was different enough that it was individual. Amy was looking at her with interest.

"What?" The teenager asked at last, bending to retie the lace of her left boot just so she didn't have to meet her grandmother's eyes. River took the strangeness of their relationship in her stride, but Evie found it much more difficult and had to rely on her mother each time they met to tell her they knew who she was and whether her grandparents knew who they were. Meeting in a random order was confusing; it was all incredibly bad for their timelines.

"You… where have you been?" Amy asked softly. "How did you know to come here?"

Glancing up with a small smile, Evie shook her head. "I can't tell you where I've been, Ames, sorry. But I got sent a message telling me to write those words on the diamond cliff on Planet 1 and then come here."

"How do you know River?"

This time the young woman laughed. "River? Oh… we know each other well. I've met her quite a few times now."

"Where?" Amy sounded indignant, almost jealous, which made Evie grin even more.

"That's classified."

"You and your classified information, River and her spoilers. Anyone would think that the pair of you knew exactly what was going on between you."

"If only." Evie murmured. Then she darted away as the horses appeared. Expertly she put her right foot into the right stirrup of a large white cob, swinging her left foot over its back and settling herself in the saddle, the reins grasped tightly in her hands. "Come on; there's no time to waste, is there?"

River shook her head, smirking slightly. She mounted the horse beside her daughter's quickly. Amy and the Doctor were more reluctant, obviously not used to riding horses. Evie had had a lot of practice; starting with the Cowboys and Indians incident she and her mother had found themselves in when she was four.

"Come on then!" The Doctor called excitedly when he was finally mounted. "Wagons roll!"


	9. Run Where?

Amy had shrieked all the way to Stonehenge. Evie had laughed at her obvious discomfort, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through her hair, which she had untied and left loose especially. Beside her, River kept shooting her amused glances, noting the huge grin on her daughter's face.

They arrived, dismounting quickly, and leaving the horses to graze outside the circle. Running between the stones, River and the Doctor immediately began scanning for any hint of what might be wrong. Amy looked around, asking questions, which River answered almost without knowing she was doing it. Using her Vortex Manipulator, Evie tried to gage the basics of what was happening around them. The technology was almost useless in this situation, but it was better than nothing.

"_Last time we saw you, you warned us about it after we climbed out of the Byzantium._" Amy said. Evie furrowed her eyebrows, looking the other way and pretending not to be listening.

"_Spoilers_." River told her distractedly.

"_No, but you told the Doctor you'd see him again when the Pandorica opens._" The red-head persisted.

"_Maybe I did._" River agreed casually, moving around Evie and shooting her a meaningful glance. "_But I haven't yet. But I will have._" She smiled weakly at her daughter, before turning around. "_Doctor? I'm picking up fry particles everywhere… energy weapons discharged on this sight._"

"_If the Pandorica is here, then it contains the mightiest warrior in history._" The Doctor announced, standing on the rock in the centre of the circle, almost as though he were a great speaker addressing a crowd. All three women's eyes were glued to him attentively. "_Now half the galaxy would want a piece of that… maybe even fight over it._" He leapt off the rock and placed his ear to it.

As he and River carried on checking the surroundings, Amy turned to Evie, hands on her hips. "Why does she always do that? Always! You do it as well. Both of you do it."

"Do what?" Evie asked, confused as to what her grandmother was getting at.

"Change the subject. Every time I ask a question you change the subject."

The teenager grinned slightly, her hair sweeping across her features so that Amy wouldn't see it. "Really?" She asked vaguely, before turning and almost jumping towards the two figures scrutenising the rocks. "Doctor, what's the plan?"

"_We need to get down there._" He replied as Amy exhaled sharply in annoyance that her questions had been brushed aside yet again.

"How?" Amy asked, looking confused at the large rock. The Doctor thought.

"River? Any ideas?" He asked.

The woman bit her lip, thinking hard. "Several; I'm just not sure they're feasible."

"What about those Technokinesis Clamps?" Evie murmured in a low voice beside her mother. "If we connect them up to your thingy," she pointed at the device in River's hand which didn't actually have a name seeing as the woman had stolen it from a lab as a prototype when it was only half complete and finished the job herself, "then surely we'd be able to move that rock?"

"You are a genius, honey!" The older woman breathed, staring at her in astonishment. Evie winked and turned away, crouching to rummage in her backpack for the clamps. River raised her voice, speaking to the Doctor. "This could take a while, I'm warning you."

"Do it!" He ordered. "Whatever it is."

The two time travelling women leapt into action. Evie threw a couple of the Technokinesis Clamps to her mother, pulling out another two and rushing to her side. She sat down, cross-legged on the grass and began taking one apart, removing a small chip and handing it to River.

"M- River… if you connect the software up on the thingy, I'll sort the hardware." She said seriously, trying to cover up her almost slip. The older woman nodded, after shooting her a look, slotting the chip into her device and tapping hurriedly on the screen.

As they worked, darkness fell. Evie's mind was whirring.

"Mum…" She whispered, after checking that the Doctor and Amy were too far away to hear their conversation. "What's the Byzantium?" River shrugged, not looking up from the formulas on the device in her hands.

"No idea. Haven't done it yet. I guess I'll find out soon."

"We. We'll find out soon."

"Mum never mentioned you, Sweetie. She said I told her."

"She never said I wasn't there, though, did she? I probably was."

River arched an eyebrow, finally looking up at her. "That doesn't mean you will be. Time can be rewritten, remember. Now hurry up."

Evie glared at her mother and threw the last of the Clamps to the woman, who secured it to the surface of the rock, pressing a button so that blue lights were emitted round the side and a red light blinked on top. Nodding slightly to her daughter, River pressed a button on her device and the rock slid slowly to the side. All four of them watched as a stone stairway was revealed, leading into the ground itself.

"_The Under-Henge._" The Doctor announced, leading the way down.

x-x

River and the Doctor were moving about, scanning the area to work out just who was coming after the Pandorica. Evie glanced at Amy, smiling weakly as she saw the anxious expression on her face. Then she turned, her eyes fixed on her mother's face. For the first time in a long time River looked genuinely terrified.

"What's happening?" Amy muttered to her, the flickering light from the torch clutched in her hand casting shadows over her features.

"They're trying to work out what else is coming. You've met other races, right? Imagine if they all knew that this… thing… whatever it is, was coming out. They'd all be after it. There's a signal beaming straight up there shouting the news to the entire universe."

"Who would be coming?"

"Who knows… everyone; Daleks, Cybermen, Slitheen, you name them; they're probably all on their way right now." Evie said, wrapping her arms around herself as though it would give her comfort.

"_River, quickly, anything!_" The Doctor demanded, turning to look at her furiously. River's face had gone even paler and she was staring at her device in horror as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Unable to tear her eyes away from the screen she gave a little gasp.

"_Around this planet there are at least ten thousand starships._" She said slowly.

"_At least?_" Amy choked, unable to believe her ears. She obviously wanted something a little more concrete.

"_Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million… I don't know! There's too many readings._"

"_What kind of starships?_" The Doctor asked. There was no need for an answer because at that moment a voice filled the room. It was a horrible, grinding, mechanical voice that made the hairs on the back of Evie's neck stand on end. She gasped, the action causing her entire body to judder slightly. River glanced at her quickly, before returning her gaze to the readings on the small screen.

"_Daleks…_" Amy muttered unnecessarily. "_Those are Daleks._"

River breathed heavily, her expression fixed on horrified. "_Daleks, Doctor._"

The Time Lord stood rooted to the spot for a moment, the three women staring at him for guidance. "_Yes._" He said at last. "_OK, OK. OK, Dalek fleet, minimum twelve thousand battleships armed to the teeth!_" He made a strange shouting noise as something occurred to him.

"What is it?" Evie asked her mother as she rushed across the chamber, resting the device against another of the stone pillars. Wide-eyed, she shook her head at the teenager. Moving quickly to her side, Evie rested her hand on River's arm, staring at her questioningly.

"I don't know… there's another signal coming through." River whispered.

"_We've got surprise on our side!_" The Doctor announced, not seeming to notice that Amy was the only one still listening to him. "_They'll never expect four people to attack twelve thousand Dalek battle ships… 'cos we'd be killed instantly. So it would be a very short surprise. Forget surprise._"

Evie rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the readings on the screen. There were definitely other species being recorded now. Uneasily the girl glanced at Amy who seemed to realise that another voice had joined the Daleks'.

"_Doctor…_"

"_Cyberships._" River announced, deciphering the readings.

"_No, Dalek ships. Listen to them, those are Dalek ships._" He argued.

"_Yes, Dalek ships and Cyberships._" The woman told him firmly.

Evie's mind seemed to have gone into meltdown. She listened to the Doctor trying to formulate plans but something in the back of her mind told her that it would never work. The two races were much more likely to want to take out the Doctor than each other; he was probably the only one who could stop whatever was in the box. As her mother listed the different species showing up on the device, Evie walked over to the Pandorica, examining it closely and trying to work out what it was. As far as she could see it was just a huge, metal box.

The Doctor seemed just as intrigued as she was, leaping towards it straight after she had. "_What are you? What could you possibly be?_" He asked, looking at it closely. He put the fingertips of one hand on the box, stroking it gently.

From above them there was the unmistakable sound of incoming spacecraft and he turned tail, running for the exit. The women followed instantly, Amy dropping her torch in her desire to escape. River reached the stairs just after the Doctor, but she hung back, waiting for Evie to leave the underground chamber before her.

Outside was ablaze with lights filling the sky as ships of all different shapes and sizes whizzed around above them. Evie had never seen anything like it. The noise was ear-splitting, engines screaming as their pilots whirled the ships around. She stared up, turning slowly on the spot as she stared at the sky.

"Oh my god…" she murmured, taking in the sheer number of enemies facing them.

"_What do we do?_" Amy whispered, evidently having the same thoughts.

"_Doctor… now listen to me._" River said quickly. She seemed calm, but her daughter instantly heard the terror shaking her voice. "_Everything that ever hated you is coming here tonight. You can't win this; you can't even fight it! Doctor, this once… just this one time, please. You have to run!_"

"_Run where?_" He asked with the tone of a sulky child who's just been told he's not allowed to stay up on New Year's Eve with everyone else. Evie thought it was more bravado than anything else powering him at that moment.

"_Fight how?_" Her mother countered.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Comments? Please? I do love them! :)<em>**


	10. Keep Your Eyes on the Cracks

The Doctor had sent River back to the Roman Camp to fetch back up. Evie had carefully avoided her mother's eyes, knowing that she would be sending signals for the young woman to follow her. Evie had no intention of going back to the camp.

"Go on, River!" The Doctor urged glancing over to see why she was still standing there.

The teenager felt a twinge of guilt at the expression on her mother's face as she ran out of the stone circle towards where they'd left the horses. She peered through the darkness and watched River mounting the white cob once more, willing her to glance back. But she didn't and soon she was gone, back across the flat land towards the Roman Camp.

"Right… one of you needs to wait up here and keep watch."

"Why can't you do it?" Evie snapped, her guilt manifesting itself as irritation. She knew that the Doctor couldn't stay up here; he needed to investigate the Pandorica some more.

"Ahh! A volunteer." He said grinning and turning tail, heading back down the steps to the Under-Henge as he'd called it before. The girl glared at his back but, when Amy looked questioningly at her, she nodded and smiled weakly.

"It's fine. I'll wait here."

When Amy had vanished below the ground, Evie stretched herself out on the flattish rock that still had the Technokinesis Clamps fixed to it and stared up at the night sky. What were all those species here for? What could possibly be that important that they would all come here and risk everything?

Briefly the teenager wondered whether she was being particularly stupid, just lying on the slab of rock staring up at thousands of hostile spaceships. Then she ignored the thought. As long as she made sure nothing got past her and down the stairs to the Doctor and Amy it was fine. Evie pulled the laser blaster out of its holster and twisted the dial to the maximum setting, narrowing her eyes determinedly.

There was a strange noise from down in the underground chamber, which sounded very much like Amy screaming. A horrible chill shot through her body at the sound and she rolled off the rock, sprinting down the steps just in time to see the Doctor being electrocuted by a Cyber-arm. Dropping to the floor beside him, she fired her gun, hitting the limb at point blank range and causing it to disintegrate in a cloud of black smoke. Then she turned her attention to the Doctor, Amy appeared to be fighting off the Cyberman's head, but Evie needed to drag the Time Lord out of harm's way before she could help her grandmother. Besides, if she tried to fire at the head, she might hit Amy instead.

By the time she'd managed to move him, a couple of Roman centurions appeared in the chamber and the teenager left them to deal with the situation, sprinting back up the stairs in search of her mother. Why hadn't she come down with the soldiers? Where was she?

"RIVER?" Evie shouted, pushing through the Romans. There was no sign of her anywhere and the teenager was starting to panic, wishing she'd gone with her after all. Grabbing the arm of one of the men nearest her, she asked if he'd seen the woman. He pointed out of the stone circle to where the girl could just about make out a figure on a white horse. Thanking him, Evie prepared to sprint over to where her mother was.

"Evie?" A shout came from below ground and the teenager was torn as to whether she should answer it. Then she sighed, spun around on her heels and headed back underground.

The Doctor was speaking into his communication device when she reached him; lying on his back and aiming the sonic screwdriver at the Pandorica which appeared to be opening. Evie's mouth dropped open. Amy wasn't anywhere in sight, but the Cyberman was pinned to a door with a sword through it, so the teenager assumed she was fine. Besides, the Doctor didn't seem concerned about her.

Catching sight of a familiar face, Evie beamed. "Rory! Hi! When did you get here?"

He opened his mouth, gazing at her with a bewildered expression, but the teenager didn't notice and moved past him not waiting for an answer. She knelt down beside the Doctor who was lying on his back on the ground.

"_Yes, now hurry up and get the TARDIS here, I need equipment._" He was shouting into the device. Evie guessed that he was talking to her mother and breathed a small sigh of relief. "Evie? No, you can't have Evie. I need her here. What? Oh... fine. I'll send her now. But hurry up!"

"What is it?" Evie asked breathlessly. "What did River say?"

"Apparently she needs you with her." He said rolling his eyes as though he thought whatever she had said was ridiculous and overemotional. "She'll wait for you to catch her up, so get a move on!"

Evie didn't need telling twice, she sprinted outside to the three remaining horses, mounted one quickly and galloped in River's direction. As she went, the ground began to shake and the shapeships overhead went even crazier, moving around much more quickly than they had before. It was almost as though something had agitated them.

"Oh… so you remembered about me, then?" River called sarcastically as the teenager galloped towards her.

"Actually I was terrified when you didn't come back. I went looking for you; shouting and everything." Evie snapped back.

"Come on… we haven't got time to waste." Her mother replied coldly, but the teenager saw a softer look in her eyes and smiled.

Evie followed River as she led the way back to where the TARDIS was parked. They dismounted quickly, slamming the doors of the blue box behind them and getting her ready in record time.

"What did you tell the Doctor?" Evie asked, pumping a lever backwards and forwards hurriedly. "He said you said you needed me?"

"Yeah… I told him I couldn't fly it on my own with all those spaceships there in case something interrupted the flight." River grinned.

"And he bought that?" Evie asked, raising her eyebrow in disbelief. Her mother nodded, laughing.

As the TARDIS dematerialised there was a huge jerk and both women were jolted sideways. The laughter faded from both their faces as they examined the console thoroughly.

"_What's the matter with you?_" River asked the time machine bewildered.

"Something's not right over here." Evie called around the central column. "Mum, look at this."

As River made her way over, there was another jerk and she almost fell into the teenager, who grabbed her quickly, stopping her from hitting the floor. "_What are you doing? What's wrong?_" She asked the machine again. "Evie, check the readings and then make sure the cross-dimensional plugs are in fully."

The teenager nodded and did as she was told. "Everything looks normal." She said, looking disconcertedly across the console at the older woman. "What's happening?"

"I don't know." River breathed. Evie walked around the console, suddenly feeling like a child again and wanting her mother to make everything alright. The TARDIS was always so reliable; if there was something wrong with her then they could have serious problems. River smiled at her, putting her hands on either side of the teenager's face. "Come on, Sweetie. I said you'd need to be brave and now's the time, alright?"

Evie nodded and returned to the controls, helping to try and keep the time machine under control as they spiralled through the vortex. Suddenly they came to an abrupt halt; both women let out the breaths they hadn't known they had been holding.

"_OK… you're OK now?_" River asked the TARDIS. She glanced at the scanner which was flickering oddly, before shaking her head and pulling Evie outside by her hand. As she was shutting the door, the teenager thought she heard a voice from inside the blue box, but then the doors closed. Evie looked around nervously.

"Mum… this is Gran's house." The teenager whispered staring at the large, old house in front of her. "It's where we first met her... when she was just a kid with a crack in her bedroom wall."

"_Why have you brought us here?_" Evidently the woman was still talking to the TARDIS and not paying much attention to her daughter. She turned on her torch and pulled out her computer device, setting up scans immediately. As they neared the house, Evie felt an odd shuddering sensation all down her spine and whirled around.

The Ood she'd seen twice before was standing in the darkness, watching their progress. The teenager stopped, gazing at it. Her eyes began to burn with tears that she didn't understand. Why should seeing the Ood make her cry?

"Evie… come on." River called in a low voice. She'd reached the door now, looking cautiously at it. It had obviously been ripped off its hinges and was propped up against the wall inside the house.

Not moving, Evie continued watching the creature in front of her, not willing to make the first move. The light in the orb clicked on, but rather than hearing its voice in her ears, the words resonated around her mind. She gasped, clutching her head.

"Keep your eyes on the cracks, Evie. Time is counting down. Hold on."

"Hold onto what?" The teenager demanded.

"Evie!" River called impatiently from inside the house. The teenager's eyes flickered in her direction for a split second. In that miniscule space of time the Ood had vanished.

Wiping her eyes on the backs of her hands, Evie followed River inside the house, drawing out her laser blaster as she went.

Just in case.

* * *

><p><em><strong>o_O Spooky… <strong>_


	11. Hold On

River figured out what was going on a fraction of a second before her daughter. They looked at each other before heading back to the TARDIS, where the older woman phoned the Doctor.

"_Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed… just listen._" River said as calmly as she could. "_They're not real. They can't be. They're all right here in the story book; those actual Romans. The ones I sent you… the ones you're with right now._ Evie… that one." She muttered, pointing to a wire on the ground beside the teenager.

"I know!" Evie muttered under her breath, picking up the wire and threading it carefully into a hole in the glass platform of the TARDIS. Then she went down the stairs and pulled it through from underneath, plugging it back into its correct position.

"_They're all in a book in Amy's house; a children's picture book… It doesn't matter, the TARDIS went wrong. Doctor, how is this possible?_"

Evie hurriedly fiddled around with all the plugs in the bottom of the TARDIS's console room, making sure that everything was in the right place and ready for action. She couldn't understand how they'd got here. Something had affected the time machine, but to look at everything was perfect.

She climbed back up the stairs to the main section of the room, circling the console checking for any problems. She couldn't see a single thing that could have caused the TARDIS to malfunction like it had.

"_But how?_" River asked, still talking to the Doctor. Evie knew better than to interrupt to ask what was happening. She would just have to wait patiently; something she found difficult. "_Yes… err… th-there's burn marks on the grass outside; landing patterns… Doctor, who are those Romans?_"

Evie's eyes were still roving around looking for anything out of the ordinary. Her eyes settled on the scanner screen. Her heart sank. How could she have missed it before? There was a large crack on the display; exactly the same shape as the ones she'd seen before all over the universe. The Ood's words sounded in her mind, 'Keep your eyes on the cracks.'

"Mum…" She whispered, not caring that the Doctor might hear how she was addressing the woman. The teenager kept her eyes focusing on the crack on the screen, terrified of looking away.

"_But they were helping us! My lipstick even worked._" She obviously hadn't heard her daughter's pleas, or had chosen to ignore them.

"Seriously, Mum…" Evie repeated, not daring to remove her gaze from the crack.

"Hang on, Sweetie…" River told her in a distracted voice. "_Doctor… that centurion. It's a trap, it has to be! They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you._"

Evie glanced away from the crack for a split second, desperate to catch her mother's attention. As she did so there was a shower of sparks from the console and River cried out. The teenager leapt towards the scanner, putting her hands on the crack as though she could pull it closed. Then she moved to the controls, trying to help bring it back to normal instead of screeching and rocking as it was at the moment.

"_River? River? River, what's happening?_" The Doctor demanded, through the phone. Evie could hear his words as she tried to pull a lever back into its correct position. For some reason it wouldn't move.

"_I don't know!_" The woman shouted, grabbing the receiver and jamming it to her ear as she moved around the console moving her fingers quickly over the controls. "_It's the engines._"

"I was trying to tell you!" Evie shouted, still trying to move the lever. She had one foot up on the console and was pulling it as hard as she could. "The crack on the scanner; the Ood warned me. 'Keep your eyes on the cracks'."

"What?" River breathed, staring at her in confusion. "I haven't got time for this now, Evie. _Doctor, there's something wrong with the TARDIS… __like something else is controlling it._"

Frustrated, Evie gave one final, monumental tug and the lever sank into position with another shower of sparks and a massive jolt. The teenager fell to the floor, breathing heavily for a moment before jumping back onto her feet. The rocking and whirring noise had stopped suddenly as the lever moved into place and Evie looked around, suddenly nervous.

"_I'm flying it perfectly!_" Her mother snapped into the phone. "_You taught me. It's the 26__th__ June 2010._"

Something registered in the teenager's mind as she heard the date read out. She looked at her mother and the message seemed to flicker between them wordlessly. Something was very, very wrong and they needed to leave.

"_I can't break free… I can't!_" River shrieked still fiddling with the controls.

Evie was back on the case as well, twisting dials and pressing buttons as though her life depended on it; which it probably did. She turned away and caught sight of some kind of countdown on the scanner display and stopped, her eyebrows furrowing as she pulled it towards her. It was at 20.

"Time is counting down." That had been the second thing the Ood had said to her in the garden. As the number changed, Evie's heart missed a beat. 19.

"Mum!" She screamed, terrified. "We have to get out of here."

"What d'you think I'm trying to do?" River bellowed back, equally scared. Rubbing her eyes furiously something caught the teenager's attention and made her smile, for the first time in so long.

"Mum!"

"What?" The woman snapped. The girl raised her wrist, pointing at her Vortex Manipulator. "Oh you clever girl." River exclaimed, her face breaking into a smile.

Their smiles soon dropped from their faces when they realised that the device was completely dead. The power had been drained from it making it totally useless. Feeling as though all their hope had been snatched away both women sighed. River squeezed Evie's arm tightly, assuring her that she didn't blame her at all.

The teenager couldn't share her mother's views. If she'd checked the device on her wrist before alerting River to the possibility that they could escape then it would just have been her who was now bitterly disappointed, rather than both of them.

"_Silence will fall._" A voice said, echoing around the TARDIS. River lowered the phone which she had replaced between her ear and her shoulder, her mouth dropping open. Evie started breathing short, fast, shallow breaths, tears building in her eyes. Her mother held out her hand as the phrase was repeated and the teenager ran to her, burying her face in River's hair. River clamped one arm tightly around the girl, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

After a couple of moments, River gently disentangled herself from Evie and flicked some switches on the console. The rocking and shaking had mostly stopped now. "_Someone else is flying it; an external force. I've lost control._" She murmured into the receiver.

Evie's mind had moved back to the Ood's words and she drifted away from her mother to look at the scanner screen. The countdown had reached 6. She was staring at it, almost in a trance. The Ood had said something else, but Evie couldn't remember what that had been. 'Keep your eyes on the cracks, Evie. Time is counting down.' But what was the last thing!

River was beginning to feel desperate. She couldn't see a way out of this. "_It's not safe!_" Using the last little bit of her strength she pushed the starting handle all the way back up to its resting position, letting out a sigh of relief as she managed it. "_Doctor, I'm down. I've landed… I'm going!_"

She ran for the doors, grabbing the teenager by the arm as she went and dragging her along. Evie's mind was still fixed on trying to remember what the Ood had said. She was sure that it was important, but she just couldn't think.

The doors were stuck. River growled as she tried her best to open them but to no avail. Thinking quickly she sprinted back to the phone, jamming it between her ear and her shoulder and thinking fast.

"_Doctor, Doctor! I can't open the doors!_" River shouted into the phone. There was no reply, something which made the woman's heart sink. She was alone in the TARDIS with her daughter and she couldn't see a way out for either of them.

Evie ran back the scanner, roughly dragging it round so that she could see the numbers. She let out a slight sob as she saw that the countdown had now reached 2. What would happen when it reached 0?

She was suddenly aware that her mother was racing around doing everything she could think of to keep the sparking and screeching time machine under control. Refusing to let her battle this alone, the teenager pulled herself together and leapt to her side, moving frantically around the console.

River, refusing to give up on her Doctor begged him to answer. "_Doctor! I can't open the doors! Doctor, please, we've got seconds!_"

Then she let out a slight sob and dropped the receiver. Knowing that it was their last chance, she quickly tried to work out how to get the doors open. Taking both ends of a thick pipe, she plunged them together, causing a massive jolt of energy which caused the console to spark even more. Evie threw her several plugs, which she fixed to the end of the pipe. The teenager joined a pair of large clips onto the end of the wire and watched as her mother wound a handle, shooting a last desperate look at the console and leapt for the doors. Evie glanced at the countdown as she followed: 1.

River threw open the doors ready to leap out as the machine rumbled and sparked behind her. Evie cried out as she realised why her mother had stopped dead in the doorway. It was completely blocked by a massive stone slab; there was no way out.

"_I'm sorry, my love._" River said, before glancing back over her shoulder at her daughter, tears falling down her cheeks. As their eyes met there was a massive explosion behind them and Evie guessed that the countdown must have reached zero. She reached out to hug her mother but the teenager seemed to be being dragged backwards away from River, into the very heart of the explosion. Evie screamed.

Then she remembered the last words the Ood had said; 'Hold on.'


	12. No Time to Explain

Evie blinked. She was supposed to be dead; properly dead this time. The TARDIS had exploded with her and her mother inside the console room. Her mother. The teenager leapt to her feet and looked around her absolutely horrified. It was dark and she was outside. Pulling up the sleeve of her jacket, Evie tapped at her Vortex Manipulator which lit up instantly.

"Oh, so now you decide that you're gonna work?" She snapped at the device. Rage bubbled up inside her and she had the urge to drop it on the ground and stamp on it. But Evie knew that was the stupidest thing she could do at the moment; it was all she had. Taking a deep, steadying breath the girl closed her eyes for a moment. "Pull yourself together woman."

Sighing, the teenager looked around her. The last thing she remembered was River opening the TARDIS doors and realising that there was no way they would be able to get out before the explosion. Then her mother had turned and looked at her, there'd been a bright light and she'd found herself here.

"Where is here?" Evie asked herself screwing up her face as she thought. "And where is mum?"

She turned slowly on the spot. Apparently she was in the middle of a small village, standing right in the centre on a large square of grass. The thing she noticed that caught her attention most was straight above her. There were no stars. The whole sky was black, apart from the moon which was alone in the universe above her.

"I've been here before." She murmured. Then it hit her; she was in Leadworth. And in Leadworth there was only one place where she should be; Amy Pond's house.

Carefully she made her way through the village and into the garden of Amy's house. Curiously she trailed her hand along the brickwork of the house, trying to take in everything. She tried to rack her brain to work out what was going on. It was night time and she would look incredibly suspicious to anyone who spotted her hanging around outside the house. But what else was she supposed to do? Why was she here? How was she here?

A figure suddenly caught her attention, running towards the front door in a strange crouching position. Poking something through the letter box he did an odd shuffle and moved away. He was also wearing something red and totally ridiculous on his head. Despite her situation, Evie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Doctor?" She hissed, hoping he'd hear her. He stopped, pulled a strange face and looked around him for the source of the sound. The girl repeated the word, slightly louder this time.

"Ah! Evie!" He said beaming and holding out his hand. To her astonishment, he didn't look remotely surprised to see her. Wondering whether he'd had something to do with her unexpectedly materialising here, Evie ran to him and, the second her hand was encased in his, they disappeared.

"What?" She murmured, looking around, even more confused than she had been before. Amy and Rory stared back at her, as well as a small ginger girl who was now drinking from the paper cup the Doctor had just handed her. "Amelia?"

"No time to explain!" The Doctor said, whirling around. "Evie, I need you to scout ahead. I'm presuming you have that horrible gun of yours with you? We're heading for the roof."

"Doctor, where's –" She started, trying to ask about her mother. But the Doctor just waved his hands cutting her off and pushed her forwards up the staircase.

Knowing that he wouldn't cooperate if she didn't do what he wanted she pulled out the laser blaster and ran up the stairs, leaving the others talking behind her. Carefully she eased herself around the corner after checking that the corridor was clear and walked quickly along it, throwing glances left and right as she went.

She didn't meet anyone or anything as she made her way to the roof, poking her head out of a hatch and looking around. Again there was no one and nothing in sight. Pulling herself up, Evie put her gun back in its holster and looked around, hands on hips. Glancing upwards she saw a great, burning ball of fire. Shielding her eyes slightly from the glare, the teenager looked at it as hard as she could. It didn't look remotely like the sun she remembered.

As she waited for the others to arrive, Evie was alarmed to realise that the sky was lightening. When she'd climbed out of the roof hatch it had been dark, but by the time she heard voices behind her the sky was much, much lighter. Amy seemed to have the same thought as her, about the light. The Doctor was impatient as he answered her questions, his eyes fixed on the sun.

"That's not the sun, is it?" Evie asked in a low voice, standing close to him and still staring at the fireball. The Time Lord shook his head before moving away. She heard the sonic screwdriver behind her and turned to see the Doctor ripping a satellite disk off its pole and heading back towards her.

"_I don't understand!_" Amy said. "_So the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it, but why would it do that? How?_"

"_Good question for another day._" The Doctor told her. Evie retreated from the edge of the roof as the Doctor jumped onto the ledge, wielding his satellite dish. "_The question for now is: total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened, not one single one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone then what is that?_" The teenager rolled her eyes. Even while the universe was collapsing he was so bloody over-dramatic. "_Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS._"

"_But that's the sun._" Rory said. Evie pulled a face at him that blatantly said, 'aw, bless' and he stared blankly back. Only then did the teenager realise that he hadn't properly met her yet, only having briefly seen her during the Prisoner Zero situation, so her greeting at Stonehenge and her familiarity with him then would have confused him totally. She had obviously met her grandfather far more times than he'd met her.

"_Is it? Well here's the noise that sun is making._" The Doctor told him, using the sonic screwdriver to amplify the sound. The unmistakable sound of the TARDIS filled their ears. "_That's my TARDIS burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm._"

The sound was heart-breaking. Evie turned away, unable to look at it anymore. Then she realised something that made her go cold. The TARDIS wasn't empty.

"Doctor…" She started urgently, but Rory cut her off.

"_Doctor there's something else. There's a voice._" He said. Evie could have kissed him in that moment. Of course there was a voice; River Song was still in the middle of that explosion. The Doctor amplified the sound further and Evie gasped. Her mother's last words were being repeated over and over again.

Silently the teenager began to cry as she listened to the loop. None of the others noticed; they were too caught up in listening to the sound. She felt awful, knowing that somehow she'd managed to escape from the explosion while her mother had been caught in the middle of it. Her heart felt as though it had been ripped straight out of her chest.

"… _put her into a time loop to save her_._ She is right at the heart of the explosion._" The Doctor was saying. Evie gulped, her heart leaping at his words. She turned and gazed at him. River was alive?

"Go and get her then." She ordered urgently. The Time Lord was slightly taken aback by her tone, peering closely at her.

"Have you been crying?" He asked, leaning forwards and scrutinising her face. The teenager put on an affronted expression and put her hands on her hips.

"Crying? Me? Don't be stupid, spaceman, of course I haven't."

"Hmm…" The Doctor said, not completely convinced. He tapped at the Vortex Manipulator on his wrist, River's Vortex Manipulator, and vanished. Evie had wondered where her mother's time travel device had vanished to.

To stop herself thinking about the fact that River was still in the middle of the explosion, Evie turned and smiled at Amy and Rory. Amy leapt towards her hugging her tightly, overjoyed that her friend was alright and had somehow managed to find them. Evie buried her face in her grandmother's hair, breathing in her scent and feeling instantly comforted. Then the teenager smiled at Rory.

"Hey," she said holding out her hand, "you don't actually know me very well at the moment. But you will do." He looked slightly confused, but shook the hand she was holding out anyway, as though he instinctively knew he could trust her. Amy laughed happily. If only they knew what Evie did, the teenager thought to herself.


	13. Ah, Childhood

The three people on the roof turned as the Doctor and River Song materialised behind them. Evie was partially hidden behind Amy and Rory and decided to keep it that way for a while, at least until she'd gaged how annoyed her mother was.

"_Amy!_" River said as her eyes fell on the red-head. "_And the plastic centurion?_" Her voice was more confused as she looked at Rory.

"_It's OK, he's on our side._"

"_Really?_" Her eyes widened in surprise at this information. "_I dated a Nestene Duplicate once… swappable head; did keep things fresh._" Behind her grandparents, Evie pulled a face of revolution at her mother's words. The Doctor looked equally unhappy with this announcement.

River glanced around, her face falling slightly. When she spoke again her tone had a hint of desperation to it. "Where's Evie? Is she…"

"I'm here." The teenager said weakly, trying to make it look as though she hadn't been hiding from the woman. She saw River relax slightly, relief spreading over her face, before she twitched slightly, fighting her natural urge to hug her daughter. Instead she put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks for leaving me up there." She said. "How the hell did you get out and why didn't you take me with you?"

"Good to see you too, River." The girl muttered, feeling bad enough as it was, even though she didn't know what had happened. She looked at the ground, not wanting to meet the woman's eye.

"_Right… I have questions._" River said, business-like immediately. "_But number one is this… What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?_"

"_It's a fez, I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool._" The Doctor said. Evie had to work hard to stop herself bursting out laughing at the look of complete disbelief on her mother's face at the words. The older woman shot Amy a quick glance and the red-head grabbed the hat off his head. River aimed and fired, disintegrating the fez on impact.

"I have wanted to do that since I saw it." Evie laughed, grinning broadly at her mother. River winked.

"_EXTERMINATE!_" The word broke through the cheerful atmosphere, causing their faces to all display the same expression of horror. A Dalek was rising up, appearing from behind the building. The Doctor ushered them backwards, using the satellite dish to block the creature's shots. They went back down the hatch and the Doctor sealed it from the inside.

"_Doctor… come on._" River ordered.

He shushed her, proving that he was a brave man. "_It's moving away… finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly,_" he glanced at his watch, "_four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity._"

"_How do you know that?_" Rory asked.

The Doctor stopped at the bottom of the steps. "_Because that's when it'll shoot to kill me._"

River and Evie glanced at each other in horror. "_Kill you? What d'you mean kill you?_" River demanded angrily.

"Doctor? What?" Evie questioned, just as angry as her mother about his casual statement.

"_Oh, shut up, never mind._" He dismissed them both, leaping down the steps and leading the way into the main corridors.

The mother and daughter were the last ones down the stairs and River caught hold of the teenager's arm, pulling her back slightly, out of sight of the others. She looked her up and down carefully before throwing her arms around her tightly, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Evie closed her eyes as well, smelling the familiar mixture of her mother's shampoo and perfume. It was incredibly comforting.

"OI?" The Doctor shouted from somewhere in the distance, causing the pair to spring apart, grinning and rush after the others. They caught up with them and the Time Lord shot them a half suspicious, half annoyed glare. River just shrugged, her daughter following her lead.

He didn't seem to care and just carried on with his explanation of how the Dalek came to be gliding around the museum shooting at them. He started walking again and Evie rolled her eyes, stifling a yawn. River nudged her, shaking her head sharply. He seemed to be talking about atoms now; the atoms inside the Pandorica.

"_In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like cloning a body from a single cell, and we've got the bumper family pack._" He said excitedly.

River was looking pensive, the exact same pensive look she'd had on her face when Evie had come home, or rather back to their cell in Stormcage, with the word 'forever' tattooed on her wrist after a night out with some friends. When she said friends, she meant it in the loosest terms. They were really some people she'd just met. River hadn't been at all impressed and that look wasn't the teenager's favourite look of her mother's by a long shot.

Rory was shaking his head, totally confused. "_No, no, no… too fast, I'm not getting it._"

"_The box contains a memory of the universe and the light transmits the memory and that's how we're gonna do it._"

"_Do what?_" Amy asked. Evie thought she had a vague idea of what the man was talking about. He wanted to use the Pandorica to transmit the atoms all over the universe to stop it… dying, or whatever it was doing. A glance at her mother showed that River was less than certain it would work.

"_Relight the fire, reboot the universe… come on!_"

"_Doctor you're being completely ridiculous!_" River snapped, following him along the corridor. Evie rolled her eyes recalling how many times she'd heard that sentence tumble from her mother's mouth. "_The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it going to reboot the whole of reality?_"

"_What if we give it a moment of infinite power?_" He asked, walking back to talk to her. "_What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?_"

"_Well that would be lovely, dear, but we can't because it's completely impossible._"

Evie sighed, smirking slightly. "Ah, childhood." She muttered, remembering the passionate arguments that seemed to take place between her mother and the Doctor each and every single time they met.

"What d'you mean?" Amy asked, narrowing her eyes at the comment. Evie's eyes widened involuntarily as she realised what she'd said.

"You know, they're just like arguing parents." She said with a shrug, trying to make light of her comment. "Always with the arguing!"

Their attention was recaptured by a jet of light hitting the Doctor as the Dalek made its way along the corridor towards them. The Time Lord fell, River on the ground beside him, holding on tightly. Evie whipped out her laser blaster, firing off shots.

"_Get back!_" Rory ordered, pushing Amy out of the way and trying to move the teenager. She just glared at him, so he turned his attention to the woman kneeling on the floor. "_River, get back now!_"

She ignored him as well and Rory fired at the Dalek desperately, his hand acting as a gun. Where Evie's shots had missed because her hand was shaking so much in her anger at the creature, Rory's hit and the Dalek powered down.

"_Doctor, Doctor it's me, River . Doctor can you hear me? What is it, what do you need?_" River asked, still on the ground beside him. He pressed the button on the Vortex Manipulator and vanished. River glanced around astonished. "_Where'd he go? Damn it, he could be anywhere._"

"_He went downstairs, twelve minutes ago._"

"_Show me!_" River demanded, making Evie jump.

"_River, he died._" Amy said gently. Evie stepped backwards, leaning against the wall for support at the words. It wasn't just the news that the Doctor was dead, something she didn't believe anyway, that had knocked the breath from her lungs. It was the look on her mother's face. She knew that look; River Song was about to do something dangerous.

"_We've gotta move. That thing's coming back to life_." Rory warned as the Dalek started moving and talking; its systems restoring themselves. From the way River was looking at the creature, Evie guessed this was the dangerous thing she was going to do and pulled out her laser blaster once more.

"_You go to the Doctor; I'll be right with you._" The woman instructed them calmly. Amy and Rory didn't need telling twice, they turned and ran. Evie didn't move. "I said, go to the Doctor." Her mother told her, warning in her voice.

"No! I'm not leaving you here with that thing."

River laughed. "I think that thing should be more worried."

"I'm still not going."

River glanced at her as the Dalek whirred. Her eyes were softer as she smiled but then they hardened with steely determination. "D'you remember that time I told you to get back in the cell and you refused?" Evie nodded, wincing at the memory from when she was eight. "This time I might not remember to set the gun to the lowest stun setting."

"If you're not down there in two minutes I'm coming back up." Evie warned, raising an eyebrow before moving along the corridor reluctantly.


	14. Rule 1 The Doctor Lies

Rule 1: the Doctor lies.

He might have told them that he was dead but, just as the teenager had suspected, the Doctor sitting in the Pandorica wasn't; quite.

They four of them had sprinted the length of the room to the box and the three younger time travellers stood back, watching as River spoke urgently to the Doctor. Evie's legs felt like jelly as she glanced up and saw that the sky was blazing above them. Time was running out.

"_Doctor? Can you hear me? What were you doing?_" River whispered. He didn't answer and, hearing the sound that was making her daughter feel ill, the woman came out of the Pandorica to investigate.

"_What's happening?_" Rory asked, gazing upwards.

"_Reality's collapsing._" River explained, breathing heavily. "_It's speeding up… Look at this room._" They did as she said and realised that all the displays were empty. Everything in them had vanished.

"_Where'd everything go?_" Amy asked.

"_History's being erased… time's running out._" The older woman admitted. "_Doctor… what were you doing, tell us. Doctor?_"

Three words escaped from the Doctor's lips. His strength was gradually returning to him, but not quickly enough. As he said the words, Evie copied them; at exactly the same time.

"Big Bang Two." Amy and Rory looked at her, but she ignored them, staring at her mother who was on the same wavelength. The Doctor had already told them what he was going to do. He was going to reboot the universe.

"_Oh!_" The woman said, leaning out of the Pandorica with a look of hope on her face. "_The TARDIS is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire…_"

"_Then what?_" Amy demanded.

"_Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once._" The plan was coming into her mind as River spoke, realisation plain on her face. "_Just like he said._"

"_And that would work? That would bring everything back?_"

"_A restoration field powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history… oh, that's brilliant. It might even work!_" She took the sonic screwdriver and scanned the Doctor's arm. "_He's wired the Vortex Manipulator to the rest of the box._"

"_Why?_" Amy asked simply. Evie suddenly realised what that meant; what the consequences would be. The colour drained from her face instantly. She seemed to be one step ahead of her mother, however because one look at her face told Evie that River hadn't got as far as thinking about the consequences yet.

"_So he can take it with him._" And then Evie saw the penny drop. River had just realised what was going to happen. She had gone very pale and was staring at the Doctor as though looking at his ghost. "_He's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion._"

Slowly she turned her head to look at Evie, tears in her eyes. The teenager was making no attempt to stop her own tears falling down her cheeks. But she kept her face emotionless apart from them and nodded sharply, indicating to her mother that she understood what she was saying.

Taking the nod as confirmation, River turned back to the Doctor finishing the job that he had started. All the while she worked, tears fell from her eyes; tears for the Doctor and tears for her daughter. If, no when, the Doctor did this he would be erased from history. Most of River's life would never have happened. She would have never met the Doctor at all. Everything would have been so different. And all that meant that Evie would never have been born. While the Doctor was saving the universe she, River Song, was going to lose her daughter.

"River…" The Doctor said softly, struggling to raise his fingers to her cheek, stroking it gently. She closed her eyes at his touch, memories surging through her mind. The woman decided she may as well make the most of them if they were going to be taken away from her. "Don't cry for me."

Her eyes snapped open. Even at the end he was so bloody full of himself. "I'm not." She snarled, standing up and stepping backwards. Maybe if she told him who Evie was… did the rules he'd set out about spoilers really matter at the end of the universe?

He laughed weakly as though he didn't believe her, breaking through her thoughts. "Can you send Amy over?"

"Just Amy?" The woman asked meaningfully. The Doctor nodded. Glaring at him she turned. It wasn't the red-head's fault that the Doctor had just caused her heart to shatter, so River composed herself before speaking to her.

"_Amy, he wants to talk to you._" River said, fiddling with her Alpha Meson gun in its holster and walking over to the girl.

"_So what happens here? Big Bang two… what happens to us?_" Amy asked. She and Rory broke apart as River stood in front of them. Evie, who'd been standing on her own a little way off staring at the fire outside the window, moved close to her mother.

"_We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happens and we don't remember it._" The woman told her quickly. Evie slipped her hand into her mother's and River held on tightly, not caring if Amy or Rory or the Doctor saw. Who cared about spoilers now?

"_River…_" Amy murmured. "_Tell me he comes back too._"

The older woman blinked, holding her emotions together. "_The Doctor will be the heart of the explosion._"

"_So?_"

There was a pause as River took a deep breath. "_So all the cracks in time will close… but he'll be on the wrong side, trapped in the netherspace; the void between the worlds. All memory of him will be purged from the universe. He will never have been born._" Unable to stand it anymore, Evie threw her arms around her mother's waist, burying her head in her shoulder. River's voice cracked as she spoke again. "_Now please, he wants to talk to you before he goes._"

"_Not to you?_"

"_He doesn't really know me yet._" She said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Evie sobbed into her shoulder and River wrapped her arms around her daughter protectively, resting her cheek on the teenager's head. "_Now he never will._"

Amy walked past them slowly, heading for the Pandorica. From somewhere River managed to find an extra little bit of strength. She prised Evie's hands from round her waist and looked into her eyes.

"Come on, Sweetie." She murmured quietly. "If this is the end then we're going to go out fighting, alright. Be brave, my Evie Song."

Taking a deep breath, Evie rubbed at her tear-stained cheeks and nodded. River had never called her Evie Song before and it sent a wave of determination flooding through the teenager's veins. "If I'm going to… not exist anymore… then I just wanted to tell you that you were the best mother ever. And I'm sorry."

"Hey!" River said smiling. She wondered what in particular the teenager was apologising for; not that it mattered. She had far more to apologise to Evie for over the past nineteen years. "There's no need to get all soppy on me, not just because the universe is ending!"

"Can I just ask… what…?" Rory gave them a blank look, pointing between them. He hadn't heard the words, but he'd caught the meaning. They both smirked at his confusion.

"We've been through a lot together, me and River. I've got so much to thank her for." Evie told him distantly as River walked away, scanning in the direction of the burning sky. "But if it hadn't been for the Doctor…"

"You wouldn't have met?" He guessed, finishing her sentence.

"Sort of." The teenager agreed, nodding. She glanced up at the window. The ball of fire seemed to be right up against it now. Evie shuddered.

"_Doctor!_" River cried as the room began to shake with the intensity of what was going on around it; the universe ending. "_It's speeding up!"_

They watched as the Pandorica closed, shaking and rattling. River pulled her daughter across the room, tackling Amy to the ground so she wouldn't be hurt as the box hurtled into the sky, taking the Doctor with it.

"Hold on." Evie told herself, gripping River's hand tightly as she faced the end. "Just hold on."


	15. I Learnt From the Best

_**Dear RandiS. I would have replied personally to your review, but you're anonymous, so I couldn't. **_

_**Firstly, thank you so much for commenting – it means a lot to know that you're reading and have 'fallen in love with this story' :) **_

_**Secondly, I'm incredibly happy that you now love with River! That's my mission in life – to make people realise how wonderful she is! Well, it isn't really, but if I manage to do that then it's a bonus! :D **_

_**And thirdly, this is almost the last part of the story and I'm very sad. But I can't just keep going with it… can I? I am tempted, but surely it would get boring? I think I could easily be persuaded to write more… it's not exactly a chore! :P But only if people actually want to read more. So let me know ;)**_

_**Love Bex x**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Also want to say a mas<strong>__**sive thank you to my constant and totally lovely reviewers Shifuni and nicoleniks94**__**. It means a lot that you take the time to comment. Also, massive thank you's to everyone who reads, alerts and favourites. THANK YOU! :D**_

_**Right… being emotional over… back to the story!**_

* * *

><p>River raised a hand to her face and felt the dampness of tears on her cheek. Her eyes flicked open; why had she been crying? It had probably been to do with something that the Doctor had done. The Doctor… the…<p>

She leapt out of bed, looking around her in confusion. She wasn't in her bedroom on the TARDIS and neither was she in her Stormcage cell. The woman was standing in her pyjamas in a nicely decorated bedroom that she didn't recognise. Why was she here?

Then she remembered what had happened; Big Bang two, rebooting the universe. So how did she remember it? It was supposed to have rewritten their histories and erased the Doctor from their memories. But she still remembered him. And that wasn't possible.

"Evie…" She whispered, wrenching open the door and rushing along the landing. She threw open doors, looking for her daughter. Every single room was empty. There was no sign of the teenager anywhere. She slumped to the ground, burying her head in her hands, letting hot tears drop onto her arms.

It was so unfair; she remembered the Doctor and her daughter and yet they were both gone and she would have to live with painful memories. Throwing back her head in anger, the woman spotted a previously unnoticed door at the other end of the corridor. A tiny spark of hope lit in her chest and she stood shakily.

Placing her trembling hand on the doorknob, River took a deep breath and pushed open the door, unsure whether she wanted to see inside. A figure in the bed stirred as the door open, a girl turned and gazed at her with large, greeny-blue eyes. The woman took a deep shuddering breath and sat on the bed, leaning over to hold her tightly in her arms.

"Mum… what's wrong?" The teenager asked. Then she gasped and pulled away from her mother's embrace, remembering. "What… how… how am I here? How can I remember everything?"

River laughed, her face lighting up. All her worries had melted into nonexistence when Evie had called her 'Mum'. All her worries except one, but she thought she knew how to sort that one out.

"Listen, I don't know what happened or how, but that doesn't matter, alright?" River said seriously gripping Evie's arms and staring into her eyes. The teenager nodded trustingly. "We need to find a way to make Amy and Rory remember the Doctor."

"Today's their wedding!" Evie exclaimed suddenly realising. "Today's the day my grandparents are getting married!"

River sighed and smiled at her daughter's excitement. "Then you'd better get dressed, Sweetie, we've got a wedding to get to."

x-x

"I thought you said we were going to the wedding." Evie moaned as her mother led her towards a large country house. They'd used the teenager's Vortex Manipulator to take them to the right place, but then River had announced that they weren't actually going to be attending the wedding after all.

"No, I said we had a wedding to get to. Different." The older woman said with a smirk. "Now, Sweetie, you have to keep the receptionist busy so I can get this to Dad."

Brandishing her TARDIS shaped diary at her daughter, River laughed, realising that the girl was still trying to work out the difference between the two sentences. As she moved towards the entrance, Evie grabbed her black fur coat, pulling River backwards.

"How am I supposed to keep them busy?"

River shrugged and smiled indulgently. "You learnt from the best, I'm sure you'll find a way. Come on, there's no point me going in until they're distracted, is there!"

Evie raised her eyebrows and walked into the reception area more confidently than she felt. River gave her a moment or two before she went in. Without glancing over, she made her way around the hall and pushed open the door on her left. It couldn't have been more perfect timing; Rory was standing, alone, in the centre of the room.

"Hello, Rory." River called, moving slowly towards him, her stiletto heels clacking with each footstep.

"Hi… Do I know you?" He asked vaguely. River just smiled fondly and held out the diary, not answering his question.

"Can you give this to Amy? It's a present. If she asks about it, tell her it's to do with that old wedding saying; it's for luck."

With that she turned, not waiting for her father to answer, heading back to the reception area to pick up her daughter and wait for the perfect moment to nudge Amy in the right direction. She let out an exasperated sigh and glanced heavenwards as she spotted the teenager.

Evie was sitting on the desk with her legs stretched out in front of her and her skirt hitched up far above a level that was respectable. She had thrown her head back, giggling at something one of the rather dazed looking men at the desk had said. The men's eyes were transfixed on her and she flipped her hair seductively.

River marched over, an eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips. The teenager glanced at her noticing the look in her eyes, before turning back to the men and twisting round so that she could slide off the counter, flashing even more flesh in the process.

"Sorry boys, I have to go." She said with a smile. The younger of the men handed her a scrap of paper, which Evie tucked into her cleavage, winking. River was outraged at her behaviour; her facial expression reflecting her anger. Then the older man beckoned Evie forwards, whispering something in her ear. The teenager giggled and threw a glance to her mother. "Oh, really? I wouldn't even try it. She's a bit… difficult… to handle. See ya!"

"Evie!" River hissed after dragging her daughter outside by her arm. "What the hell were you doing?"

"You told me to distract them. Besides, mother, I learnt from the best." She said meaningfully raising her eyebrows.

River couldn't help smirking at that; she had known introducing the girl to the hallucinogenic lipstick when she was thirteen had been a bad idea. "Oh, Sweetie."

"Yeah… I was brought up by the woman who can make Daleks beg for mercy." Evie continued. River's mouth dropped open at her words and the teenager smirked, shooting her a glance. "Did you really think I was just going to leave you alone with it?"

"Yeah, well, at least I didn't start crying when the TARDIS went crazy." River told her smirking.

"I think you'll find you were the one that made me hug you and wouldn't let go!" Evie retorted quickly, an identical smirk on her own face. They both laughed and River flung an arm around the teenager giving her a quick kiss on her forehead before pushing her towards the bin.

She shook her head smiling and waited for Evie to bin the phone number the man had given her before dragging the teenager the long way round the building so that she could walk past Amy and Rory's reception and make sure her mother had got the message.

x-x

In the darkness, the two women saw a blue police box. They smiled, neither having to look at the other to know that their expressions were identical. Quietly they moved forwards until they were standing in front of it. The Doctor had walked straight past them, taking the TARDIS key out of his pocket with his back turned.

"_Did you dance?_" River asked, her voice husky. "_Well… you always dance at weddings, don't you?_"

"_You tell me._" He said, turning and smiling.

River laughed slightly. "_Spoilers._" Now she was very glad she hadn't revealed anything in the Pandorica; it would have complicated things no end.

"_The writing's all back, but I didn't peak._" He said, handing River her diary.

"_Thank you._" She said smiling at him in a way Evie had seen countless times before. The Doctor handed River back her Vortex Manipulator and the teenager decided it was time for her to give them some privacy. She wasn't sure where exactly he was in his timeline, but it couldn't be that far, because he didn't know who they were yet.

"See you later, Doctor." She said smiling at him. The Doctor didn't question the fact that the two women had appeared here together or that they were obviously intending to leave in the same way. He grinned back, before his eyes drifted over her clothes and his eyebrows shot up.

"Evie… never wear that outfit again." He ordered. "In fact, burn it. Burn that outfit and then buy a big, baggy onesie; onesies are cool."

She laughed, shaking her head, and retreated into the shadows, just far enough away that she wasn't involved in the conversation, but near enough so that she could hear it. While hearing her mother being flirty made her slightly uncomfortable, when she was flirting with the Doctor Evie didn't mind.

"_Are you married, River?_"

In the dim light, Evie could just make out the expression on her mother's face. River was smirking slightly, but not giving anything away. "_Are you asking?_"

"_Yes._"

River smirked even more. "_Yes._"

"_No… hang on, did you think I was asking you to marry me? Or… Or asking if you were married?_" The Doctor asked, suddenly flustered. Evie could hear a hint of panic in his voice. She snorted with stifled laughter in the background, knowing that this question was totally redundant.

"_Yes._"

"_No? But was that yes or… yes._" He was struggling to clarify the meaning of her word. He would be struggling for a very long time; River was an expert at keeping secrets.

"_Yes._" She breathed, leaning forwards slightly and staring into his eyes. He sighed.

"_River… who are you?_"

She hesitated, beckoning Evie back to her side. "_You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes._"

Evie stood beside her mother, who slipped an arm around her waist and pressed the button on her Vortex Manipulator, causing them both to vanish. The Doctor stared at the empty space for a moment or two, smiling fondly and wondering about the two females, before turning and entering the TARDIS.


	16. Flashback

_**Dear lovely people. **_

_**Thank you so much for the comments, the favouriting, the subscribing, etc. I really appreciate all of it! :)**_

_**This is the very last bit of Evie's story… and it's a flashback!**_

_**I hope you enjoy it, let me know. :D**_

_**Becki :) xxx**_

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><p><em><strong>*Flashback*<strong>_

Evie was running for her life. Whenever she found herself in a situation which required running for her life she seemed to think of things that really shouldn't be important at that moment, but which suddenly really were. At that moment the teenager was wondering why she'd thought it would be a good idea to wear the high-heeled ankle-boots. River might be able to pull off running for her life in high-heels, but the teenager decided that she would personally try to do it slightly less often in future.

She slammed into the door in front of her, falling through and closing it tightly. That wouldn't hold the Dalek for long, she thought, whirling round and trying to work out her next move. Desperately she gazed around at the piles of crates and junk that littered the room. There was a tiny window in the wall opposite the door; a window that was almost definitely too small for the teenager to wriggle through.

Nevertheless, when the Dalek blasted its way through the wooden door, the window was swinging slightly on its hinges. As the creature moved slowly towards it, it's eyestalk moving agitatedly as it took in the fact that its enemy may have escaped through the hole, the teenager leapt out from her hiding place and sprinted back down the corridor she'd just run along.

There was a high-pitched sound behind her and a jet of light headed straight for the teenager, hitting the laser blaster in her hand and forcing her to drop the weapon just before it exploded. Evie shook her hand in annoyance, feeling the heat still on her flesh. She stared at it in outrage for a split second.

"Oh... you're SO going to regret doing that. That was a present from my mother." She said in a low threatening voice, turning to glare at the metal alien that was stationary about five large strides away from her.

The Dalek's eyestalk moved erratically as it tried to understand her tone. It wasn't fear, which the Dalek was used to, there was something else in her voice; the girl was annoyed. The metal creature did not understand what was happening and internally it began to panic, twitching its weapons worriedly.

Using its moment of hesitation to her advantage Evie turned and ran. She threw herself round corners looking for the exit. Finally she found it, still hearing the metallic voice screeching behind her. She sped up even more as she crossed the scrubland outside the factory building. Behind her, the Dalek was picking up speed as well, heading straight for her. Evie swore as she glanced over her shoulder and realised that it was catching her up quickly.

"Now would be a really good time for you to respond to the message I sent you!" She screamed into the empty air, looking around wildly.

Several hours earlier, the Doctor had arrived outside their Stormcage cell and, judging from the expression on his face as he looked at River it was pretty late on in his timeline. He had simply walked purposefully towards the cage, unlocked it and announced that he needed to borrow River for 'something'. Then he'd pulled her by the hand into the TARDIS.

Evie had rolled her eyes as she heard her mother's flirtatious laughter from inside the box as the door closed. She was used to being ignored and forgotten when the Doctor turned up in one of those moods. Most of the time this wasn't the case, but occasionally Evie just had to get on with whatever she'd been doing and wait.

The teenager had returned to opening River's TARDIS shaped diary – the Doctor Diary – at random pages and reading them, which was one of her favourite games. It was, however, like a very dangerous game of Russian roulette and she'd learnt some things about her mother, not to mention the Doctor, that she'd really rather not have known. Evie hadn't been able to look at a pair of handcuffs without shuddering since she was twelve.

River had another diary as well, a pink soft-covered book; her own private diary. Evie knew exactly where it was hidden – in the middle of a hollowed out dictionary on the bookshelf in their cell – and she also knew that the truth about the identity of her father was written in that book. Whenever the teenager was left on her own, the temptation to read that diary almost became too much. But, she also knew that if her mother found out she'd as much as touched that diary she would be in _massive_ amounts of trouble. Besides, Evie didn't need a father; she had River – her mother and her very best friend.

So, alone in the cell, Evie had decided to do exactly the opposite of what the Doctor always said was rule number one; she was going to wander off. Without even bothering to change, explaining the high-heels, the teenager had set her Vortex Manipulator to random and headed out into the big wide universe.

Where she had met a Dalek.

Ten minutes after she'd arrived and discovered the lone Dalek, the Vortex Manipulator had malfunctioned, meaning that the teleportation setting wouldn't work. Taking a deep breath and making sure she didn't panic, Evie had quickly come up with a plan. Then she had decided that it wouldn't work and sent a distress message straight to the TARDIS but there was no sign of the little blue box.

Now, almost an hour later, the Dalek was gaining on her easily as she ran over the uneven grassland. Wondering whether she was actually going to die at the hands, or rather gunstick, of the metal mutant, Evie squeezed her eyes shut. She felt sick to the pit of her stomach.

The unmistakable sound of the TARDIS filled her ears and Evie started laughing with relief.

x-x

River screamed as she saw a jet of light and her daughter falling through the open doors of the TARDIS. She ran to the teenager as the doors slammed shut, dropping to the ground and cradling her daughter in her arms. Evie was taking quick, shallow breaths.

"DO SOMETHING!" River screamed at the Doctor who was looking panicky.

"Time… loop…" Evie whispered hoarsely, fighting to keep her eyes open and training her gaze on the man.

"Time loop?" River repeated, glancing up at the Doctor who was returning Evie's gaze. His face changed into a look of complete surprise as he thought about it in his head. Of course… Evie was eighteen, the same age as she'd been when he first met her. He had to put her into the time loop!

He moved around the console but, to his further surprise, the TARDIS seemed to be doing the things that were necessary to keep the teenager alive and in a time loop by herself. He watched numbers and letters flickering on the scanner display in awe and only looked away when River screamed again.

The teenager had vanished. There was no trace of Evie anywhere.

Before either River or the Doctor could open their mouths, there was a loud knocking on the doors. As far as the Doctor had been concerned, they were flying through the Vortex, heading back to Stormcage. So how could anyone be knocking on the doors?

Shooting the sobbing woman, who was still in a crumpled heap on the TARDIS floor, an anxious look as he passed the Time Lord flung open the doors. A teenager, dressed in a long white t-shirt, leggings and high-heeled boots, stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips. His mouth dropped open as he looked past her and saw that they were, in fact, in the Vortex. How was that possible? The Doctor turned his gaze on the teenager, about to demand answers.

"Hello, Doctor." Evie said smirking and pushing past the Time Lord into the TARDIS before pulling River to her feet. "Hello, Mum. I think I need to explain what just happened and where I've been for the last year."

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><p><em><strong>Ahhh! That's it! <strong>_

_**I'm gonna miss the Evie/River/Doctor/Amy relationships… I don't know if I can let go of them… :/ I know I invented her, but I half wish I hadn't… so if the Beeb want Evie it's fine with me! :P**_

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><p><em><strong>OK… I've been persuaded to write another part of Evie story after all. I'm sure I can think of more to write about her and them… but I don't want to if you guys think it's not a great idea. <strong>_

_**So… Would you read it? More importantly, would you enjoy reading it? Let me know and help me make up my mind! Please? :) **_


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